


Getting dragged along for the ride

by TheSteinsGateFormula



Series: Getting thrown in E Class was like being shoved into a car with no seatbelts and being driven at 70mph [1]
Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Angst, Asano Gakushuu is in Class 3-E, Comedy, Emotional/Psychological Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:20:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 40,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27452638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSteinsGateFormula/pseuds/TheSteinsGateFormula
Summary: Asano gets sent to 3-E, which is fine, he won't be there for long....And, then Koro-sensei interferes, Bitch-sensei gets captured by the Reaper, and it's a trainwreck from there.
Series: Getting thrown in E Class was like being shoved into a car with no seatbelts and being driven at 70mph [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2054907
Comments: 70
Kudos: 289
Collections: Asano Gakushuu Centric





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> One-shot request! This one was way longer than anticipated.

Kayano kept staring at him during lunch where he was sat alone near the back of the class eating.

“…So.” She turned the Nagisa who’s joined his desk with hers. “How exactly is Asano in our class again?” She whispered, smiling sheepishly. “He was getting top grades before midterms this semester…”

Nagisa grimaced, poking at his lunch. “Uh, I don’t know…”

“I heard he had like a mental breakdown during second-semester midterms,” Sugino whispered, joining them. “That’s why he dropped off.”

“That doesn’t sound like Asano, though…” Nagisa murmured, sneaking a peek at the solemn-looking boy who was eating his neatly arranged lunch from his bento box. “Even after first semester finals, he seemed confident…”

Karma shrugged, looking faintly annoyed when he looked over. “Talk about disappointing.”

Sugino frowned, glancing over at him. “It’s really weird—” He yelped when Gakushuu’s sharp gaze shot to glare at him. “Uh…”

The rest of the class looked over curiously.

Gakushuu narrowed his eyes at the three of them darkly. “Hm.” He wrinkled his nose like there was a bad smell. “If you’re going to stalk me like the octopus you might want to exercise some subtly.”

Nagisa ducked his head in his embarrassment while Sugino looked sheepish.

Kayano smiled apprehensively. “Wanna sit with us?”

Sugino nearly choked and a few of the other students looked surprised, while Karma raised an eyebrow.

Gakushuu visibly tensed, staring at them with a strong level of suspicion, but he was saved from a response when Koro-sensei came rushing into the classroom, back from his Origami event with a handful of folded paper.

“Hello, children!” Koro-sensei greeted brightly, carefully placing the origami figured on his desk.

“Hey, are those for us?!” Fuwa asked, putting her lunch down to stand up.

“Of course!” Koro-sensei told them as they started to gather around. “They’re leftovers from my little competition.” He chuckled. “The judges were very impressed!”

Maehara raised an eyebrow, picking up a delicately folded rabbit. “Kind of an unfair advantage with the whole mach 20 speed.”

“More like an unfair advantage being a super creature!” Okano stated.

Koro-sense gave a nervous laugh. “I swear I slowed down. Besides, there weren’t any prizes.”

“Kind of a missed opportunity considering how broke you are half the time,” Mimura commented, causing a few of the others to laugh.

Their teacher huffed. “I’m not as broke this month!”

His students didn’t look convinced.

“Right, sure.” Nakamura rolled her eyes, picking up a penguin Figure. “Anyway, can we really take one?”

“Of course!” Koro-sensei replied brightly. “You all performed so well last term and the summer, this is just a little reward!”

“Aw, thanks, sir!” Kurahashi smiled warmly, picking up a butterfly figure.

Koro-sensei beamed happily when he saw his students each take an origami figure.

Gakushuu watched them from the back, staying seated while his ‘new’ classmates gathered around their teacher's desk to pick up the gifts brought.

Koro-sensei looked over curiously, causing the boy to tense and quickly go back to eating his lunch.

***

“Oh, Asano, could you stay behind, please?” Koro-sensei said quickly as the school day drew o a close and the rest of the students stood up to leave.

Gakushuu scowled, sitting back down in his seat as the rest of his classmates cast him curious looked over their shoulders. Karma glanced at him with interest before leaving as well.

“Oh, Asano!!” Ritsu popped up on the screen behind his desk, when everyone had more or less left. “I ran some more simulations following your suggestion on World domination!”

“What?!” Koro-sensei looked up from where he was tidying his notes.

Gakushuu shot Ritsu a glare. “Not now!”

Ritsu blushed. “Oops!”

Koro-sensei cleared his throat as Takebayashi and Okuda came back in with cleaning supplies. “Asano, let’s talk in the teachers’ lounge.”

He scowled, gathering his bag while Ritsu smiled apologetically. “Yes, sir…”

“I noticed you’ve been quite withdrawn since coming here,” Koro-sensei began while they were sat down. “I know transferring will have been hard, especially with the rivalry, but I hope you’ll at least give us a chance.”

Gakushuu shrugged, crossing his arms. “Considering the world will end by March, there isn’t much point investing the energy.”

“Asano! Don’t be so negative!” Koro-sensei chided, sighing. “Honestly! You children still have a chance to stop it, but you have to believe in yourself.”

Gakushuu hummed, glancing at the clock to see how long this was going to last. “I apologise, sir, you’re right.” He smiled politely. “I’ll try to make more of an effort to engage with my classmates!”

Koro-sensei scratched his head. “I would like to believe that, Asano, but I am still skeptical.” He sighed while the smile dropped from the boy’s face. “You’re a bright and brilliant young man,” he praised, causing him to stiffen. “And while I may not know the full picture…I know things must be hard considering how your father can be…”

Gakushuu dug his nails into his palms, trying not to narrow his eyes and keep his expression reserved.

“But, I think making new friends will do you some good!” He patted him on the head, earning a glare. “So I’ve decided to give a little incentive!”

“Incentive?” Gakushuu whacked the tentacle away. “What are you talking about?”

Koro-sensei sniggered. “You have until the end of November to try to assassinate me with the help of your classmates, otherwise I’m putting on your permanent record that you’re an ‘anti-social loner boy’!”

“What?!” Gakushuu nearly choked. “You can’t—”

“Oh, but I can!” Koro-sensei chuckled. “Now, while it’s true the world may end by March, there is still a chance it won’t if 3-E, some mercenaries, or the Government manage to kill me on time!”

Gakushuu gritted his teeth, looking at the octopus like he wanted to string him up and set him on fire. “You’re blackmailing me!”

“Of course!” Koro-sensei clapped his tentacles. “You should know since you’re well versed in it, my dear student!” He chuckled when Gakushuu started to seethe. “Now, I recommend you start texting and conspire with your classmates, it’s already nearly mid-October.”

Gakushuu was shaking a little from containing his frustration, clenching his fists on his lap. “You…”

“Asano.” Koro-sensei’s voice was calm, making him pause. “I’m your teacher, which means it’s my job to make sure each of my students has a spark in them and a drive to do their best. I know you have that too, and I want you to show me that confident young man who threatened to chase his enemies as into oblivion!”

Gakushuu tensed up, feeling his temper fade when his gut twisted at the memory of the Pole Toppling tournament came, and then the rest following after like a collapsing wall. “I…” He quickly straightened up. “You’re delusions, as well as singlehandedly the most immature and annoying adult I’ve ever had the misfortune of meeting.” He stood up, grabbing his bag. “Trying to kill you will be a pleasure.”

He octopus chuckled. “Ah, I look forward to it.”

Gakushuu scoffed, leaving the lounge without a second glance.

***

Gakushuu stared at the table where Kayano, Nagisa, and Sugino had gathered around. He fidgeted with his lunch box, staring at them for a long while before finally standing up and walking over.

Kayano and Nagisa broke off from their conversation when he approached, the three of them looking a little confused.

Gakushuu gripped his bento box tight, staring at them in complete silence for five seconds until he said, “…Well, are you going to move or not?” His eyes narrowed with a look of expectance and impatience.

“Oh!” Nagisa looked sheepish. “Sorry!”

The three of them quickly shuffled to make room.

“…Thank you.” Gakushuu sat down next to Sugino and placed his box on the desk.

“Mind if I join?” Karma chimed in, causing Gakushuu to scowl. “Sure looks crowded.”

Nagisa smiled in amusement, shuffling his chair again. “There’s still room.”

Gakushuu’s scowl deepened when Karma sat right next to him, in between Nagisa.

“So, Asano…” Sugino smiled apprehensively. “I heard Ritsu say something about you helping her plot world dominations…”

Gakushuu poked at his rice ball. “Her potential as a threat to the world is something interesting to explore.”

“Uh, yeah, but machines taking over is kind of a nightmare,” Kayano commented.

“Hardly. In fact, I believe they have more potential to fix the world rather than make it worse,” he replied.

Karma smirked, chewing on a chocolate bar. “Getting an AI on board is only half of a plan,” he said confidently. “You can’t expect Ritsu to do all the work.”

Gakushuu huffed. “Don’t even pretend to think you can understand my level of strategy, Akabane.”

Karma scoffed. “I think I have a high level since I beat you for the top spot.”

The other boy stiffened while everyone else around the table looked uncomfortable when an awkward silence cast over.

Karma eyed him from the corner of his eye like he was expecting something.

Asano took a deep breath and ignored him, eating his lunch; Karma’s eyes narrowed.

“Uh!” Nagisa forced a smile. “Anyway, a bunch of us were going to get flowers for Bitch-sensei after school if you wanna come.”

“Why would you get her flowers, you’ll just encourage her predator behaviour?” Gakushuu replied, causing Sugino to nearly choke on his juice.

“Uh…” Nagisa smiled sheepishly.

“We’re not actually giving them to her,” Kayano explained. “We’re giving them to Mr Karasuma so he can give them to her.”

Gakushuu frowned. “Why?”

“Because Bitch-sensei is head over heels for him,” Karma replied, shrugging. “Ever since the whole Shipping cave scenario she’s fallen hard.”

“Shipping cave?” Gakushuu was more confused. “What the hell is that?”

Fuwa laughed when she overheard from the desk next to them. “Wait, you don’t know what shipping is?!”

Gakushuu’s brow furrowed, glancing at them warily when his classmates looked amused. “Is it something perverted and insane like everything else in this class?”

He was shocked when they started to laugh…

“Oh, man, we gotta introduce him to an Ecchi anime!” Nakamura teased.

“What? No way, I hate Ecchi!” Okano complained.

Gakushuu stared at them in confusion, feeling completely lost on where this conversation had gone.

“Shipping is where you pair two characters together,” Takebayashi explained, seemingly taking pity on him. “Shipping can be fictional or non-fictional.”

“Don’t forget the shipping wars!” Fuwa laughed. “That’s a whole other crazy!”

“…I see.” Gakushuu tried to remember if Ren or Araki had mentioned something about it; Araki liked films and Ren was… _well Ren_.

“Have you ever even watched Anime?” Nakamura asked, looking over in interest.

“No,” Gakushuu replied.

“Have you read Manga?” Fuwa asked.

Gakushuu sighed, growing impatient. “No, I haven’t.”

“What about movies?” Mimura questioned.

His thoughts drifted to Transformers but he quickly pushed the thought away. “Only if they serve a purpose.”

“…Serve a purpose?” Mimura frowned, sharing a look with Kimura and Sugaya.

“Yes.” Gakushuu looked at them all suspiciously, they all seemed to be more talkative towards him today than previous. “I’m not going to waste time watching something nonsensical.”

“So what do you do for fun then?” Maehara asked, earning a frown from Isogai.

Gakushuu grew more guarded, feeling like he was being attacked at all corners. “…Productive activities.”

Several of his classmates looked confused.

“… _Productive activities_?” Yoshida raised an eyebrow.

Terasaka scoffed. “Dude, you’re weird. Get a hobby.”

Gakushuu bristled, narrowing his eyes. “I was debating collecting data on gorillas, would you like to be my first candidate, Terasaka?”

Karma burst out laughing, spitting out some strawberry milk.

Terasaka turned bright red when the others laughed as well. “Fuck you, Asano!”

Itona shrugged, drinking some soup. “He isn’t wrong though.”

“Shut up, Itona!” Terasaka yelled.

Gakushuu shook his head and went back to eating.

“Um…” Nagisa gave an apprehensive laugh. “So, do you want to join us after school, Asano?”

Gakushuu frowned, pausing to eye them warily. He wanted to decline but Koro-sensei’s words of ‘anti-social loner boy’ whispered in his ear like an irritating phantom. “…So long as it doesn’t take too long.” He scowled when he saw the blue-haired boy’s smile brighten. “I have a busy schedule so I can’t waste time playing ‘matchmaker’ for a lovesick Honeypot.”

***

The flower trip wasn’t….unpleasant.

Gakushuu frowned as he followed them down the street while Kanzaki held the bouquet of roses.

“…I still think he was ripping us off,” he commented.

Karma shrugged, stretching. “Yeah, probably.”

“You guys wanna grab something to eat on the way to the station?” Sugino suggested.

“Yes! Cake!” Kayano replied, smiling sweetly.

“Cake sounds good!” Okano chimed in.

“You coming, Asano?” Nagisa asked.

Gakushuu gripped his bag strap tight. “I’ll have to pass, there are a few books I need to get from the library in the city.”

Kanzaki frowned. “But the library doesn’t close until 11pm…”

“I have a martial arts tournament at 6pm so I need to grab the books before then,” he replied.

“You still do tournaments?” Kayano frowned.

“Of course,” Gakushuu replied stiffly. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Sugino looked confused. “It’s just we thought the rules were you aren’t allowed to do extracurricular activities when you get dropped down.”

Gakushuu sighed impatiently. “Which is true. I’m not apart of any school clubs or activities anymore, but I still have commitments outside of school…though less than before.” He looked away from them. “Besides, I still need to study.”

Karma slurped some strawberry milk. “Considering how much you study, how do you not already have every book in that library?”

He glared at him. “You do realise that would be impractical as well as wasteful.”

Karma raised an eyebrow. “Wow, you really don’t have a sense of humour.”

Gakushuu scowled. “I only find _actual_ jokes amusing, not your poor attempts.”

“Uh, anyway!” Kayano laughed nervously. “That’s fine, Asano. We’ll just see you tomorrow.”

“Yes.” Gakushuu looked away from Karma’s smug face. “Hopefully your plan isn’t a complete disaster.”

No doubt it would be a complete disaster.

And, by judging the glared his classmates were shooting him, he was certain they secretly knew it as well. They were just in denial.

“…Geez, thanks for the optimism, Asano,” Okano commented dryly.

Gakushuu shook his head and started walking ahead while they lagged behind and talked about the different cakes they’d buy.

“Oh, Asano, wait!” Nagisa rushed to catch up with him.

He frowned, looking over his shoulder. “What?”

Nagisa smiled sheepishly and pulled something out of his pocket. “Koro-sensei said you didn’t get one.” The object was an origami figure, a goat. “Okuda had a spare.”

Gakushuu stared at the paper figure blankly. “I didn’t get one because I didn’t want one.” He turned away and started to walk.

“Hey, wait!” Nagisa caught up with him, blocking his path. “You’re a part of our class.” His brow furrowed, holding up the figure. “We’re not your enemies, we’re just trying to be friends.”

Gakushuu’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t…” He stopped himself, remembering what Koro-sensei had said. “…I…” He scowled, glaring at the stupid paper figure. If he rejected Nagisa branch of friendship then the octopus might fail him outright! “…Fine.” He grabbed the paper goat. “It’ll be in the trash in a few years anyway.”

Nagisa smiled in a way that made Gakushuu scowl and walk faster to the train station

***

He didn’t know why he didn’t just throw the stupid thing away…

Gakushuu sat at his desk, a pile of books stacked up next to some practice test sheets.

He kept looking at the stupid origami goat on top of the smallest stack of textbooks, but quickly shook his head and tried to focus. The whole reason he was in this mess was because of them and there…he couldn’t even find the right word to describe how infuriating they were.

His pencil dug into the test sheet as he wrote furiously. If they hadn’t…but, no, failure rested on the leader. _Always_. His hand shook. Class A had failed because of his poor leadership, because he’d been _sloppy._

He should have kept a better reign on his classmates, he should have kept a more watchful eye on Takebayashi and not let jealousy blind him, and he should have better predicted Isogai’s strategy in the pole toppling.

The failure was _his fault_. All of it. The bet, the broken award, what happened to Kevin and the others…

The lead of the pencil snapped against the paper when he pressed too hard, his hand shaking a little.

Damn it. He gritted his teeth and couldn’t stop his hand from shaking. His chest felt like someone was pressing weight on it. 

“Damn it!”

He threw the pencil against the wall and shoved the textbooks on the floor when his eyes stung.

Then he buried his face in his arms on the desk, feeling his heart hammer against his ribcage frantically like it would explode.

***

“3-A has been quite outspoken recently.” The Principal sat opposite him at dinner, cutting up his smoke salmon while Asano sat next to him at the dining table. “Seo especially has been quite vocal.”

Gakushuu wiped his mouth before sipping some water. “…And how is that my concern?” he kept his voice calm, not rising to the bait. “You made it very clear I wasn’t fit to be their leader. Therefore it’s none of my concern.”

The Principal smiled politely. “Yes, that is true.” He hummed, pausing like he was thinking something over. “Though Erina did complain that they’ve been calling the house too often, and they have been sending a large number of emails to your inbox. The gardener even had to stop a few of them from climbing the wall to break in.”

Gakushuu swallowed, gripping his fork tight. “I have nothing to say to them…”

“Which is for the best.” The Principal ate for a while before wiping his mouth. “Since you failed them, I’ve had to take a handle of things and assist their teachers. It’s taken a lot of time, but I consider it an important investment.”

Gakushuu’s stomach twisted, trying not to think about his old classmates being exposed to the Principal’s full methods. “They’re more than capable to manage.”

“You think so?” the Principal replied lightly, cutting up his fish. “I think they are as well, they’re bright and driven, but I think it’s wise they don’t get distracted, so please keep your distance.” He smiles at him. “You’ll just drag them down.”

Gakushuu froze, clenching his hands into fists on the table to stop them from shaking.

He’d already made sure to cut off contact so they wouldn’t be pulled down to the gutter with him, and he had been actively avoiding running into the Big Five or any of them by staying mostly inside on the weekends and only leaving when he had a competition or unavoidable commitment to attend.

It was completely stupid for his old classmates to risk getting in trouble trying to contact him. What were they even thinking? He knew Seo was co-dependent but you’d think he and the others would have more sense!

“…I wasn’t planning on talking to them anyway,” Gakushuu said stiffly. “I have bigger things to worry about thanks to _your_ bargain with the government and a particularly irritating octopus.”

The Principal chuckled, sipping his drink. “You were the one who wanted to learn my secret.” His smiled grew. “You got exactly what you wanted, and besides…” His gaze was cold, making Gakushuu tense. “If you really want to claw your way to the top, you’ll need to apply some initiative,” he told him. “Your new classmates are stepping stones, and if you’re smart enough to use that as your advantage you might actually not be such a failure and have something of a bright future ahead of you.”

Gakushuu grimaced, losing his appetite. “…You’re the one who put me there.”

“I didn’t have much choice.” The Principal ate and then washed it down with his drink. “Your failure was an embarrassment to the school and yourself.” He looked at him like he was a piece of dirt, making his skin crawl. “You failed at Finals when you lost that bet, you failed to keep Takebayashi in, and you failed a simple pole toppling competition after making such a spectacle inviting you friends.”

Gakushuu started to feel sick, staring at his plate when he started to remember the blood splattered on the walls in the Principal’s office.

“And, then, of course, there were midterms,” the Principal continued. “Any leader who can’t handle a small pressure as that isn’t fit to be in the top class.” He sighed. “Frankly, it’s not a question of why I sent you there.” He cut the salmon into smaller pieces. “But more of a question on why I didn’t sooner.”

Gakushuu swallowed a bad taste, poking at his food,

“Nevertheless…” The Principal sighed, shaking his head. “I haven’t given up on you. You just need to focus and remember why you need to fight.” He smiled at him. “You might actually re-join your old classmates before the school year is up, so long as you keep your head down and work diligently. I assume you won the martial arts tournament today?”

“Yes.” Gakushuu narrowed his eyes at him; he hadn’t lost a tournament since he was nine.

“Then you’re already showing some progress,” the older man replied, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “The only success you’re responsible for is yourself now.” He raised an eyebrow. “Something I assume you’re still competent enough to handle?”

Gakushuu tried to stay composed, digging his fork so hard into the plate it nearly cracked. “Of course… _sir_.”

The Principal regarded him for a moment as if he found the whole thing amusing before he finished up his meal.

“I have lesson plans for 3-A I need to finish.” The Principal stood up, placing his napkin on his plate. “Wash up the dishes when you’re done.”

Gakushuu stayed where he was, looking at his plate for another thirty minutes before throwing the rest in the bin and washing the dishes.

He collapsed on his bed when he got upstairs, taking peace in the silence as his face stayed smothered in his pillow.

Until his phone pinged.

He frowned, taking it out of his pocket. He’d blocked all his classmates numbers so he shouldn’t be getting—

A messenger app opened up on his phone.

**Nakamura: HEY ASANO SHOW US YOUR ORIGAMI FIGURE!**

Gakushuu sat up in alarm. “What on Earth…?”

His phone pinged again as more messages flooded in.

**Fuwa: YEAH! Also, HI!!! Welcome to the group chat.**

Uh…

Asano stared at the screen, completely lost.

**Terasaka: Pfft….**

**Kanzaki: (smiley face emoji) welcome to the chat Asano. We like to plot some of our assassination plan here.**

**Mimura: And post memes.**

**Fuwa: It’s mostly for the memes.**

**NAKAMURA: ASANO!!! SHOW US THE ORIGAMI!!**  
  


Gakushuu scowled and typed back.

**Asano: why are you speaking in capitals!?**

**Nakamura: (Wink emoji) Got your attention.**

He glared at the screen.

**Asano: How did you even get my number?**

**Kayano: Ritsu.**

**Fuwa: Ritsu.**

**Maehara: LMAO WHO DO YOU THINK?**

**Nakamura: LOL RITSU! DuH.**

Another ten replies flooded in with the same answer, and by that point, he knew they were messing with him

He sighed in exasperation and turned his phone off and went back to studying.

***

“…Well, personally I think Mr Karasuma was perfectly reasonably,” Gakushuu said lightly after they were discussing Bitch-sensei’s temper tantrum following Mr Karasuma’s rejection.

“Asano!” Kataoka looked annoyed.

He shrugged. “What did she expect? Mr Karasuma was just being honest.”

“But he hurt her feelings!” Kurahashi exclaimed. “Even if he didn’t want to be in a relationship, he should have been nice about it!”

“And it’s been three days,” Chiba muttered, exchanging a look with Hayami.

Gakushuu frowned faintly.

 _It had been a while._  
  
"Maybe we went too far," Yada said.

“When don’t you go too far,” Gakushuu muttered, but they ignored him and kept worrying and fretting over their missing English teacher.

"Call me if anything happens with Irina-sensei," Koro-sensei said, his head a soccer ball."I've got to get to Brazil to take in a soccer match! Samba-bye!" He flew out the window.  
  
"That's right," Maehara cringed. "He'd had his mind set on attending this game for a while now."  
  
Koro-sensei the soccer ball flew through the air. "Pressing forward with the player's own power!"  
  
"He's your typical once-every-four-years sudden fan," Maehara finished.

  
As Yada held her phone to her ear, Kataoka said, "I wonder if Bitch-sensei is okay."

Gakushuu’s frown grew, watching how worried they looked. It was interesting. They seemed extremely attached to their teacher…

He tried to remember ever being as concerned for a teacher like that, well unless you were counting the Principal—

No.

He stubbornly cut off the train of thought.

The Principal could get blown up tomorrow and it would serve him right.

"That's not it. There's still something you need her to do."

Gakushuu looked up in confusion at the new voice.

"Right?" Okano smiled. "And besides, it's fun having her around."

Why was the flower salesman from yesterday here?

His eyes widened in alarm as the man casually walked to the front of the classroom.  
  
"Yes, you've bonded quite nicely, you and her." He walked to the teacher's podium. "My preliminary research has already verified that much. All I'll do is exploit that."

It took a second for his classmates to finally catch on.

  
“Wait…” Okuda paled, stepping back as everyone as had similar expression of confusion and shock mixed in.

Just who the hell was this man?

"I'm the assassin known as the Reaper," the man smiled. "And now I have a lesson for you all."  
  
***

If you were to ask Gakushuu’s personal opinion on Bitch-sensei it would be as followed.

She was a mentally damaged, extremely insecure, manipulative, and somewhat tacky in style, bitch. She had no sense of boundaries or seemed to grasp that kissing underage students was perverted and would end in a lawsuit.

He’d already drafted the paperwork in case she tried to kiss him again after the disastrous first time.

So, he made these thoughts well known to his classmates when they came preaching of saving her like they were all some merry band of superheroes.

“…And furthermore,” Gakushuu continued, while the rest of the class looked irritated. “I have a Cello concert at 7:30pm tonight so I’m busy.”

There was a pause.

“…You play the cello?” Kimura said.

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!” Terasaka yelled, marching over to Gakushuu. “YOU LISTEN HERE YOU LITTLE POMPU—”

“Enough!” Kataoka pushed him back. “Asano…” She sighed, looking over. “None of us can force you to help, but we’re a class, and Bitch-sensei is our teacher who needs our help.”

“He’s going to kill her if we don’t!” Yada looked on the verge of crying. “We have to do something!”

Gakushuu felt an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach, but he tried to ignore it.

These people aren’t my friends, they’re stepping stones.

“…Stop pretending like I’m actually apart of this class,” Gakushuu said bitterly, making them tense. “A few months ago we were trying to destroy each other—we don’t have the same ideals, and we’re not friends, even if the octopus put you up to taking pity on me.”

“Pity?” Sugino frowned. “Asano, we’re just trying—”

“I don’t want to be your friend,” Gakushuu replied sharply, not caring for Koro-sensei’s threat anymore. “And I don’t care about Ms Jelavic.” His chest hurt. “She got herself into this mess so she needs to get herself out of it. I’m not responsible for her.”

His classmates were silent, staring at him.

“…Koro-sensei told us to give you a chance because he said we were wrong about you,” Nakamura spoke up. “We didn’t do it out of pity, Asano, we just aren’t holding a grudge.” She crossed her arms. “If you don’t want to be our friend, then fine. But it doesn’t change that we’re a class, and doesn’t change our mission and what Koro-sensei is training to be.”

Gakushuu curled his hands into fists, feeling a chill creep up his neck.

“That mission is our bond.” Her expression was grim while the others were staring at her in surprise. “We protect each other and have each others backs because of our bond, and Bitch-sensei is a part of that. That’s why we’re doing this, and if you don’t want to be a part of that, then fine.”

Gakushuu swallowed a lump in his throat as the whole room grew silent.

“Woah, Nakamura got serious,” Okajima whispered, earning a glare from the blond. “Ah!”

Gakushuu clenched his jaw tight, looking away from them. They stayed quiet, waiting.

He grabbed his bag and left the classroom without looking at them.

***

Gakushuu sat on his bed and numbly stared at the Cello instrument near his wardrobe. He’d been sitting the for nearly an hour and hadn’t even gotten changed.

The driver was dropping him off at the concert hall at 6pm. He needed to get ready.

He curled his hands into fists on his lap.

The Principal would be at dinner with his business associates until 8pm so he wouldn’t be in attendance. Not that it mattered but…

Why did he even care about doing another concert? He didn’t even like playing the Cello!

Someone’s life hanging in the balance did seem a larger priority in comparison. The photo of Bitch-sensei being beaten and tied up came back to mind.

He stood up and quickly tried to focus, running a hand through his hair and pulling agitatedly.

Even if he didn’t like it, the concert was a commitment and a responsibility he’d agreed to. Strong leaders didn’t shirk their responsibility. Strong leaders…

...Strong leaders didn’t abandon their people.

“Fuck.” Gakushuu buried his face in his hand. “They’re going to get themselves killed.”

3-E were a ragtag group of reckless idiots, and frankly, after everything he’d been told by Mr Karasuma. It was a miracle they all weren’t dead yet.

Gakushuu growled, wanting to beat each one of them out of frustration for getting him roped into all this mess, but he’d have to do that later.

He moved under his desk and lifted away the thin line of wood hiding a keyhole to another drawer compartment full of things he didn’t want the maid or the Principal finding. He grabbed the key hidden between two floorboards near the window and opened up the compartment.

The hightech gear Mr Karasuma had given him for training, spilled out, along with a large collection of Transformer trading cards, a small old Optimus Prime figure, some photos of him and Ren, emergency cash, and a burner phone.

000

He’d admit, he was still getting used to parkour running, even though Mr Karasuma told him he was mastering it fast, he still wasn’t as fast as the others yet.

Which was why he may, or may not have been, just a little exhausted when he finally met them at 5:59pm…

He groaned, breathing heavily and leaning on his knees. “For the record…” He glared at them when he saw them all stand therE looking smug. “I am only doing this because I don’t want to be accused of indirect manslaughter when you are all undoubtedly killed for your reckless idiocy.”

To his frustration, most of them laughed.

“I’m not joking,” Gakushuu said coldly.

Terasaka laughed, smacking him on the back roughly. “Yeah, yeah, whatever, Mr Perfect.” He grinned when Gakushuu glared at him. “You’re with Itona.”

The short white-haired boy nodded, stepping forward. “We’re plotting the escape root so idiots like Terasaka don’t die.”

“HEY!”

Gakushuu nodded, at least if he had to take orders, Itona was somewhat good company and respectable enough. “Understood.”

Isoagi smiled, placing a hand on Gakushuu’s shoulder. “Let’s watch each others backs in there, okay, Asano?”

Gakushuu rolled his eyes and whacked the Ikeman’s hand away. “If I die, I’ve already made preparations to sue your families as recompense!”

Isogai looked scared. “Uh…”

Gakushuu scowled when he saw the others just look amused. It was ridiculous, they barely even knew him and yet they took him in like he was some kind of stray dog they wanted to adopt. _It was insulting_ and he very much wanted to slap the smiles off their faces.

They were worse than Ren and all of 3-A combined.

“Right, let’s go!” Yada said firmly, looking serious which was unlike her usual self. “Bitch-sensei is counting on us.”

“Right!” The others on the class yelled, heading forward to the compound up ahead.

He grimaced, hesitating until he saw Karma shoot him an expectant look. “Tch.”

Gakushuu scoffed, ignoring him as he followed after his classmates into the lion's den.


	2. I told you so

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Guess who got hyperfixated again and decided to make this a 5 parter?

“I told you so.” Gakushuu crossed his arms stubbornly as he and his classmates, were all trapped in a prison cell underground awaiting death.

They all shot him annoyed looks.

“ _Really,_ Asano?” Okano exclaimed.

He scoffed. “I was right.”

They all sighed loudly.

Yada wiped her eyes. “I can’t believe Bitch-sensei betrayed us!”

“I can,” Gakushuu replied dryly, earning a whack on the arm from Kayano. “Ow!”

“Don’t worry, Yada.” Kayano smiled warmly. “I’m sure Bitch-sensei doesn’t really want us to die.”

“Yeah.” Kurahashi frowned. “She just seems upset.”

“Kind of an extreme reaction though,” Yoshida commented.

There were a few disgruntled murmurs of agreement.

Gakushuu sighed, sitting on the ground as he tugged at the bomb around his neck. “I can’t believe I’m going to die here with you idiots.”

“Wow, thanks, Asano, nice to know you care,” Nakamura replied dryly.

Hazama sighed. “It is a shitty way to die—maybe we should just finish the job ourselves.” She rubbed her chin. “Anyone up for a group suicide?”

“NO!” They screamed at her.

She shrugged. “It was just a suggestion.”

“Be honest, Asano,” Karma leant against the wall. “Being here and probably dying is better than the stupid Cello concert.”

Gakushuu scowled when he couldn’t disagree.

“Mr K and Koro-sensei will come,” Kurahashi said, frowning. “Mr K will be able to beat this Reaper guy, he can do anything.”

Gakushuu hummed. “It’s true Mr Karasuma is a capable commander, but the Reaper has the advantage of planning and talent.”

“So what? Koro-sensei’s superhuman,” Okajima said stubbornly. “Together they could take him down.”

“But they don’t know Bitch-sensei betrayed us, remember?” Kanzaki reminded him, sighing. “She could lead them into a trap…”

Nagisa grimaced. “True.”

The class lapsed into a long silence as they waited.

Gakushuu crossed his arms and tapped his fingers against his arms.

“You look impatient?” Itona said from the floor.

Gakushuu scowled. “I’m not used to waiting around to be rescued.” He looked down at Itona warily. “You shouldn’t have surrendered so easily—”

“Why so we could both end up injured or dead?” Itona questioned evenly.

The other boy grimaced, seeing his point.

“Sometimes you have to show weakness to survive another day,” the white-haired boy said quietly, looking down. “I learned that the hard way with the tentacles.”

Gakushuu tensed, remembering what Isogai had told him. “…I can understand that to a degree.” He sat down next to his classmate. “I know staying composed when faced with a stronger enemy is needed to survive.” He’d lost track of the many times he’d had to bite his tongue and stay quiet when the Principal had lectured him or done worse. “I suppose I’m just agitated, we walked straight into a trap.”

Itona hummed. “Yeah, but it’s a learning curve, we were stuck between a wall and a hard place. There weren’t that many options.” He shrugged. “Part of being strong is being weak.”

Gakushuu’s brow furrowed, finding the sentence contradictory. Weakness wasn’t a part of being strong, it held a person back. It—

Koro-sensei fell with a giant thud into the students' cell. The class startled and yelled in shock.

"Koro-sensei!"

"Are you okay?"

Gakushuu grimaced. “So much for a rescue.”

Itona sighed. “Are we really surprised?”

“No, not really.” Gakushuu watched at the Reaper returned with Karasuma in tow. “But I suppose that since he’s an adult I expect some level of competence.”

Itona scoffed while the Reaper started boasting as Bitch-sensei walked in. “Yeah, I thought that too, but the man’s barely functional. I don’t even think he qualifies as an adult, more like a horny teenage with bad taste in porn.”

Gakushuu wrinkled his nose. “I’d rather not have that mental image.”

Itona frowned. “Why? You don’t read porn.”

“I’d rather not imagine a giant octopus reading porn, Itona.”

“Fair enough.” Itona frowned when he looked over at Koro-sensei. “Huh?”

Gakushuu to frowned. “Is he…licking the bars?”

"I made this tongue with a coating of digestive juices," Koro-sensei explained. "Give me half a day and I can lick these bars away."

"TOO SLOW!"

Gakushuu buried his face in his palm. “I can’t deal with this idiot.”

Itona shrugged. “You get used to it.”

"Say..." The class turned and focused on the newcomers. Reaper was sitting by the doorway, Karasuma and Irina behind him. "Keep licking like that and I'll detonate everyone's bombs."

Reaper dropped from the entrance to the floor in front of them. "Now then—better hurry. I'm about to flood this place with water." The entire class gasped. "This is a drainage canal. On my command from the control room up above, two hundred tons of water per second will squeeze you into noodles against these bars." Reaper peered at Koro-sensei through the bars, smiling wide.

"Wait!" Karasuma gripped Reaper's shoulder. "You intend to kill the students, too?"

Reaper smiled. "Of course. It's too late to wait."

Gakushuu stiffened, standing alongside his classmates as they exchanged unsure looks.

Karasuma grimaced. Irina was frowning, eyes turned to the ground. "Irina!" he barked. "You knew as much, and yet..."

"As a pro, I just prioritize results, that's all," she interrupted, slightly annoyed. "Isn't that what you wanted?"

“For goodness sake.” Gakushuu scowled. “We’re seriously going to die because of a couples spat?”

_What kind of bullshit was this?!_

Nakamura shrugged. “There’s worst ways to go.”

“Maybe the shipping really wasn’t a great idea,” Kayano said grimly.

A vein throbbed in Gakushuu’s forehead. “You think?”

"Here's how the government sees it." Karasuma turned to the Reaper.

Reaper turned, smile firmly in place. “Yes?”

A second later, Karasuma slammed him in the face. He went flying.

Gakushuu scoffed, nearly gawking as his classmates made a resounding ‘wow’ noise.

********* **

“So we need to get out of here fast while Mr K saves Bitch-sensei and takes down the Reaper,” Maehara whispered as they were all huddled together.”

“I propose we kill Koro-sensei so the Reaper doesn’t have a reason to kill us,” Gakushuu said bluntly. 

“Huh, true we could…”

Koro-sensei yelped. “Wait!”

Gakushuu gestured to a corner of the cell. “There’s a blindspot over there we can use to do the deed.” He pulled out his anti-sensei knife. “Considering the enclosed space I estimate we have a 35% chance of success.”

“I’m still right here, Asano!” Koro-sensei complained.

“Uh, weren’t our weapons confiscated?” Sugaya asked

“Yeah, where were you hiding that?!” Mimura questioned.

“Hm, not bad…” Nakamura rubbed her chin. “But what is the Reaper just claims credit and then kills all of us, Mr K and Bitch-sensei so there’s no witnesses?”

Gakushuu frowned. “Well, while I wouldn’t mind Ms Jelavic kicking the bucket—”

“ASANO!” Koro-sensei and his classmates scolded.

“—I do admire Mr Karasuma and wish to learn more from his teaching,” he finished, sighing. “And the Reaper killing us regardless and claiming credit would be annoying…”

“So other plan?” Takebayashi suggested.

Itona tugged at the bomb collar. “I think I can disable these, the technology is cheap and badly designed.”

“…Why didn’t you do that earlier?!” Terasaka hissed.

Itona shrugged. “I was still thinking it over.”

“I have an idea.” Sugaya took out some paint supplies. “I should be able to apply camouflage on everyone so that we blend into the wall, that way he’ll think we escaped and trigger the collars.”

“Good idea,” Isogai praised. “We’ll need to hurry.” He turned to Gakushuu. “Asano, can you draw up a perimeter of the blindspot so Sugaya can start painting, that way we can gradually filter people people in.”

Gakushuu frowned faintly at being given orders, but then nodded. “Very well.” He crossed his arms and glanced at their teacher. “And what about the octopus?”

Koro-sensei turned away from them, blushing as he clutched his robes. “Don’t bother wasting paint on me, children…your sensei knows what needs to be done!”

“Uh…”

Gakushuu frowned. “What is he talking about?”

Nakamura chuckled. “Oh, you’ll see. We better turn away though…” Koro-sensei sobbed quietly near a corner. “What’s been exposed can’t be unseen!”

“What?” Gakushuu was more confused.

“Koro-sensei’s skin has natural camouflage ability, remember?” Karma said slyly.

“Natural Camo…” Then Gakushuu held back some vomit. “OH GOD!”

Karma laughed, patting him on the shoulder. “Yep.”

***

Gakushuu scoffed when he saw the Reaper’s beaten up body in the water after his fight with Mr Karasuma. “Idiot didn’t stand a chance.”

“That’s for sure!” Kurahashi said brightly.

“Uh, he looks as gross on the outside like on the inside,” Okano commented.

"The man had marvellous skills," Karasuma said, he looked rough, bare chested with his suit jacket over his shoulder. "But he put too much faith in them."

“True, talent isn’t everything.” Koro-sensei patted Gakushuu on the shoulder, making him scowl. "Whoever influenced him was a fool," Koro-sensei declared. "He could have used his skills to follow a much straighter path." He sighed. "Sparing people or killing them... It's all up to the person and the world around them." Koro-sensei placed his other tentacle on Nagisa’s head. "Yes, exactly. Right, Miss Irina?"

Everyone turned to face Bitch-sensei, who had been attempting to escape down the hall. "Urk!" Drops of sweat ran down her face.

Bitch-sensei squeaked. The next second, she was held between Yoshida and Mimura, one arm in each of their grips. "Ugh! Just do whatever you want!" The rest just watched her, sweatdropping. "The boys with their usual pent-up animal lust, the girls with their usual envy of my beauty—just let it all out in an explosion of sexual violence!"

"Her ideas are getting wild!" Kimura said. Irina growled like a rabid dog.

"Look, just come to school as always," Terasaka said. "No more shirkin' your duties for days on end."

Bitch-sensei stared up at them with wide eyes. "You know I was this close to killing you all."

Takebayashi pushed his glasses further up his nose. "Is that a problem?"

“Yes, it is Takebayashi, some of us don’t have a death wish,” Gakushuu commented, causing a few of his classmates to laugh.

Why did these people treat common sense like a joke?!

Takebayashi shrugged. “But backstabbing, treachery... isn't that what makes her our bitch?"

“Yeah! We forgive you, Bitch-sensei!” Kanzaki said warmly.

“I don’t,” Gakushuu replied dryly.

“ASANO!” His classmates chided.

“She nearly got us killed!”

“Meh. She had a change of heart.” Nakamura shrugged. "And if we can't even enjoy school with a bitch," she said, "What are we doing being junior-high assassins, anyway?"

"That's right." Karasuma stood in front of her and held out the Reaper's rose. Koro-sensei and the class gawked. "This flower wasn't borrowed from our students. I came by it intentionally, by defeating the enemy." Bitch-sensei took the flower quietly."Is that good enough for your birthday?"

Gakushuu groaned. “What even is this?”

“It’s romance.” Koro-sensei patted him on the head like he was a small child, earning a glare. “You’ll understand one day.”

“If this is romance.” Gakushuu took out his knife threateningly, trying to take a swipe at him so he’d stop patronising him. “I’d rather die alone.”

“Ah!” Koro-sensei looked heartbroken. “Don’t say that! I want all my students to grow old with children.” He looked ready to sob.

Gakushuu scowled, feeling his cheeks hear up. “What is wrong with you?!”

Koro-sensei huffed, and looked over at a lovesick Bitch-sensei who was holding the rose."Mr Karasuma, a word before things take a turn for the racy?" koro-sensei grew serious.

Karasuma glared at him. "It definitely won't, but please."

Koro-sensei placed a tentacle on his students' heads, in which Gakushuu was tempted to try to stab him again, but Kataoka grabbed his arm before he could raise the knife.

"I don't want the students involved in this kind of danger again,” Koro-sensei said firmly, causing Gakushuu to frown. "I must insist on an environment where we can safely kill and be killed."

Mr Karasuma looked away. "I know."

Gakushuu’s frown grew as he slowly lowered his knife when he heard the concern in Koro-sensei’s voice.

“I promise I’ll do everything I can to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Mr Karasuma told them sternly, and if it were anyone else he wouldn’t believe them. “I’ll talk with my superiors first thing.”

Koro-sensei nodded. “Thank you.” He gave them all one last head pat, checking his watch. “Now! Oh, my, it is rather late!”

“It is.” Then Karasuma frowned, looking over at Gakushuu. “That reminds me, Asano, the Principal tried finding out where you were.”

Gakushuu tried not to tense, keeping his expression calm. “I did have prior commitments, so it’s expected,” he replied. “I assume you’ll be relaying a full report of tonight’s events to him, as required.”

Mr Karasuma’s lips tugged into a grimace. “Yes.”

“Then I’d rather you do it sooner rather than later.” Gakushuu ignored the strangely concerned looks his classmates were shooting him. “I’m sure there’s a number of questions he has…”

***

Gakushuu didn’t try to sneak in, it would just delay the inevitable. He grimaced, trudging up the steps to the front door and trying his key, surprised he hadn’t been bolted out for being back so late, but that wasn’t exactly a good sign since it meant the Principal probably wanted to talk to him.

He hesitated before opening the door into the house, the lights were all still on even though it was nearly 1 am.

Quietly, he removed his boots and carried them, walking towards the stairs.

“I admit, I feared the worst when I got a call saying you hadn’t attended the concert.”

He cringed, freezing near the stairs when he heard the Principal’s voice from the living room. He stayed where he was, gripping his boots tight against his chest.

 _He wasn’t a coward_ , he told himself, straightening up. _Being weak would just make things worse._

He put the boots by the front door and walked into the living room where the Principal was looking through Gakushuu’s laptop; not a rare occurrence but irritating, he’d already changed the password a hundred times even and inputted a two-step verification, but it didn’t make a different in the long run.

The Principal didn’t look up from the laptop, browsing through Gakushuu’s emails. “Then I found the automated email you set-up to be sent off after 24 hours,” he said, making the boy swear under his breath. “Which is when I had to call Mr Karasuma of all things, running around, trying to find out where you were.”

Gakushuu grimaced. “It wasn’t my intention to make you…worry…” He took a deep breath, refusing to show fear. “Bitc—Ms Jelavic was captured, we didn’t have much of a choice, and as a leader—”

The Principal snapped the laptop shut. “Oh, is that what you think you were doing?” When he looked at him Gakushuu froze up. “You think you were being _strong_?”

Gakushuu curled his hands into fists. “I couldn’t just do nothing, and rest of—”

“You were reckless and stupid.” The Principal stood up, tossing the laptop on the couch. “You didn’t think logically. Even if you were being threatened, you could have found a way to contact myself or get a hold of Mr Karasuma,” he said sternly as Gakushuu’s gaze shifted away. “Instead you played right into that killer’s hand like an idiotic child.”

“I understand that I may have acted irresponsibly…” He tried to keep his breathing level as the Principal stood up. “But at the time, it was strenuous circumstances, we had to act fast and it—it was the right thing to do…at the time…” His argument started to crumble when he started to doubt. “They’re my classmates, did you just expect me to abandon them like a coward?”

“I expected you to be smarter,” the Principal replied sharply, walking over to him “I expected you to _think.”_ His voice grew colder. “Do you have any idea of how much danger you put yourself in?”

Gakushuu’s back hit the wall when he stumbled back to far, feeling the ground beneath him start to crumble as he tried to push back.

If his father was so suddenly concerned about his safety then why the hell did he put him in a class with Koro-sensei of all people!? If he was such a disappointment and a failure then why was he still trying?!

“Then if I’m such a failure,” he snapped, his heart was hammering against his chest, wanting to bolt. “Why bother caring what —?"

He flinched badly when the Principal pressed his hand against the wall, boxing him in.

“ _Why bother_?” he repeated coldly,

Gakushuu’s eyes widened in horror when he saw the look on his father’s face, feeling like he was trapped in the office while Kevin was begging for the Principal to stop twisting his arm until it snapped.

“S-sir—”

“You are _my_ student,” the Principal’s voice was quiet. “And I have invested _time_ and _care_ into trying to make you the strong leader you need to be.” The plaster started to crack from under his palm. “And all you’ve done this past year is self-sabotage every opportunity I have given you like spoilt child.”

Gakushuu’s face was clammy, feeling his hands shake, when he saw dark shadows casting over and forming the shape of a monster on the taller man’s face.

“I will not let you throw away your future,” the Principal said sternly, placing his other hand on his son’s head. “You _will_ be strong, and you will overcome your own weakness and climb your way back to the top, even if it means I have to _drag_ you up there myself. _Do you understand_?”

Gakushuu stared at him in alarm, feeling like he was suffocating. “I…”

The grip on his head tightened. “ _Asano_.”

“Yes.” Gakushuu swallowed a lump in his throat, trying to control his nerves. “I understand…sir.”

The Principal stared at him for a long while, like watching an insect under a microscope. “I will not tolerate a stunt like this again.” He removed his hand from the wall, leaving a crack in the plaster. “Now go upstairs and clean yourself up.” He turned away. “You smell _disgusting.”_

Gakushuu cringed, shifting uncomfortably as he watched the Principal walk away, leaving him alone. He let out a sigh of relief, breathing heavily still as he tried to regain composure. His hand touched the crack on the wall, tracing the outline of it with a troubled look before heading upstairs to clean up and wash the stench of sewage away. 


	3. I'm not tired

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Right outline is finalised so I've decided to make this a seven chapter since I don't want to rush or drag things out.

"...Have you eaten yet, Asano?" Kanzaki asked gently, frowning at him while he was trying to draw up some assassination ideas during lunch.

"Hm?" Gakushuu tapped his pencil against the paper. "I'm not hungry," he replied dismissively, frowning as he stared at the mind-map of ideas. "What was the result when you tried to melt the pellets down?"

"Uh, well we didn't really melt it down," Sugaya spoke up, pausing from eating. " ground it into a powder and put it in paint, but it only melted a some of him."

Gakushuu hummed, making a note of it. "And what about food?" He looked up at them, while they all stared at him with some wariness. "Have you tried having him ingest it?"

"Well, we did think of that," Nagisa said, looking at him with concern for some reason. "But Ritsu ran a simulation and it's more likely he'll just throw it up unless he ate a large amount of it."

"Right..." Gakushuu drank some of his energy drink to stay focussed. "That could be messy..."

"Um, Asano?" Kayano ventured.

"Yes, what?" His brow furrowed.

"How much sleep are you getting?"

Gakushuu tensed, caught off guard when he started to realise why they were all looking at him and the five cans of energy drinks on his desk; he probably should have kept those out of sight.

He remembered 3-A often sometimes giving him the same looks when he pulled too many all-nighters studying.

"...I don't see how that's relevant?" he replied primly, using his foot to push his bag further out of sight on the floor so they would see the other five cans in there.

"Dude, do you even sleep?!" Yoshida questioned.

"Don't be ridiculous, of course, I do." Gakushuu scowled, touching his face self-consciously, his skincare routine was normally well enough that the bags under his eyes weren't noticeable. "I've just been pulling a few extra study sessions. Finals aren't far away, I have to be prepared."

"You won't be prepared if you're dead by the end of the month," Karma commented, scrutinising him.

Gakushuu scowled. "I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself, thank you—now, what about water balloons, have any of you tried that?"

***

When it came to career counselling, needless to say, Koro-sensei was struck speechless by his immaculate organisation.

"...I've picked out five potential future wives who could help further my position in the business sector," Gakushuu announced from his slideshow presentation in the teacher's lounge which was being projected on the wall.

"Uh..." Koro-sensei's face was chalk white.

Gakushuu smirked, clicking the next slide to a graph showing the projected stock market for the next ten years. "Using an algorithm I created with Ritsu's help, I've managed to predict an 85% stock prediction." He went to the next slide to show a map of the world. "And if I monopolise the technology market successfully in America, I can crush my competitors within the next five years by predicting the market trends and subconsciously manipulating the masses!"

Koro-sensei started sweating, clearly overwhelmed by his brilliance. "A-Asano!"

Gakushuu's smirk grew, showing a map of the future in ten years with different countries dominated with his potential technology company. "It will be a challenge but if I implement the right assets I should be able to make headway!"

The next slide showed his profit margin hitting a one Trillion net worth within fifteen years.

Gakushuu smiled brightly, ending the slide with a giant hand crushing the Earth. "You are always telling us to dream big after all."

Koro-sensei shaking. "Y-yes, yes, very good, Asano." He gave a weak laugh and clapped. "That's...I'm so... _impressed_ by how much you've planned ahead..."

Gakushuu's smile was smug. "Well, this is all projections still." He ended the slideshow and turned off the projector, sitting back down, opposite Koro-sensei. "Theirs is still a large uncertainty I'll need to implement, but it does give me more motivation to kill you."

Koro-sensei sighed, wiping his head with a napkin. "Well, I'm glad you're being more...positive." He shook his head faintly and looked through the folder which Gakushuu had given. "I'm just a little concerned with your schedule." He scratched his head, pulling out a timetable, according to this you plan only getting three to four hours sleep a night."

Gakushuu raised an eyebrow. "Yes, and?"

"Uh, well." Koro-sensei looked concerned. "Don't you think it's a little packed? There's no free time here."

He shrugged. "So? That's the schedule I have now anyway."  
  


Koro-sensei made a choking noise. "What?!"

Gakushuu's brow furrowed. "I've had that schedule since I was thirteen—I'm not one for idleness."

"Y-yes, I understand but this is a little too much!" Koro-sensei exclaimed. "No wonder you look so tired." Then his teacher's eyes narrowed. "Asano, how much sleep did you get last night?"

Gakushuu's eyed him warily. "...Two hours."

"TWO HOURS?!!" Koro-sensei looked horrified.

_It was a tad overdramatic_

Gakushuu rolled his eyes. "It's perfectly fine. I'm not tired."

He was mainly surviving off energy drinks, but that was a technicality.

"Asano..." Koro-sensei started fretting like an old woman. "Please, you need to take better care of yourself. I want you to spend this week having some more free time."

Gakushuu narrowed his gaze. "While I understand you can't help interfering, my sleep schedule is not your concern."

"Asano—"

"If you're that worried then tell my father," he challenged, crossing his arms. "I'm sure he'll take your side, don't you?"

Koro-sensei stayed quiet, knowing he was stuck. "Hm..."

"That's what I thought." Gakushuu grabbed his bag. "Now if that's everything, can I go?"

His teacher sighed. "...Yes."

Gakushuu flashed him a polite smile. "Thank you, sir."

****

"I have an idea," Itona stopped him from leaving the Old Campus building, holding up some notes. "For Koro-sensei's assassination."

Gakushuu frowned, looking down at the shorter boy. "I'm listening."

Itona opened up the notes, showing a diagram of a machine, it looked like some sort of fog light. "When I worked for Shiro he had this pressure ray that trapped Koro-sensei."

"Pressure ray?"Gakushuu's eyes widened, taking the notebook and quickly looking through. "Interesting..." He rubbed his chin. "If we can use it to trap him in one place we could deliver a killing shot or even an explosion." He glanced back at Itona. "I assume I can keep this?"

Itona shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Consider it an apology."

Gakushuu frowned. "An apology for wh—?"

He stiffened when a dart hit his neck, sending him falling to the ground as the word disappeared into a fog of black.

***

Gakushuu moaned, feeling like someone had hit him over the head. He scrunched his face up as he slowly opened his eyes.

"Aw, looks like he's awake!" Why was Nakamura speaking?

"Aw, but he looked so cute sleeping!" Why was Akabane speaking?!  
Gakushuu's eyes popped open.

He was sat in an ice cream parlour at a large booth, with his hands duct-taped together under the table.

"What the fuck?!" He swore, looking around in alarm, breaking out into a sweat.

Terasaka was sat next to him eating a bowl of blue ice cream. "Ha! Wow, you're jumpy."

Gakushuu reeled back against the window, staring at his kidnappers.

Happily surrounding him was Nakamura, Karma, Terasaka, Hazama, Fuwa, Itona, Maehara, Hayami, and Okuda.

"About time as well," Hayami commented, eating her chocolate sundae. "I think we got the dosage wrong.

Okuda smiled sheepishly. "Sorry!"

He blinked several times, looking back and forth at them until, "what the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Hey, keep your voice down, you're gonna get us kicked out!" Nakamura hissed, kicking him under the table.

"Sorry, he's just overworked!" Karma said to the other customers who were looking over.

Gakushuu glared at them. "What are you doing? This is kidnapping! This is illegal."

Itona shrugged, licking his spoon of vanilla ice cream. "Yeah, and?"

Gakushuu nearly choked. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because you need a break, dumbass," Nakamura said like it was obvious. "You're gonna work yourself to death."

Karma smiled wickedly. "And Koro-sensei did say we should help you relax."

"And you think kidnapping is the answer?!" Gakushuu snapped.

Karma shrugged. "Technicalities."

He tried to kick him under the table but he was too far away.

"Hey, come on, calm down," Fuwa said, smiling. "Just sit back and enjoy the ice cream—what kind do you want? This place has a really great selection."

These people were fucking insane.

Gakushuu glared at them. "I don't want ice cream." He took a deep breath, trying to regain whatever dignity he had left. "I need to go home. I have some practice tests and study sheets I need to go over."

"Yeah, just do it later," Nakamura said, shrugging.

"I can't just, _do it later_ ," Gakushuu sneered. "I need to get them done by eight so I can answer the Principal's questions at 8:30pm—"

"Dude, it's only 4pm , you have plenty of time," Maehara reassured. "Just relax—"

"No, I can't relax," Gakushuu snapped, losing his patience quickly. "I'm supposed to be home. I'm..." He grimaced. "I'm....I'm not to take part in outside social activities—"

"But this is inside," Karma commented.

"— _or_ inside social activities," he added, glaring at him.

"So, what? Your old man grounded you?" Terasaka looked amused.

Gakushuu scowled. "I suppose a more basic term would be that," he replied. "He was rightfully angered by my disappearance a few days ago when we went to rescue Bitch-sensei..."

"Oh..." Nakamura hummed, scratching her chin. "Oh, well! You'll be back before late so it's fine!"

"Yeah, live a little," Maehara teased. "You said your dad isn't back until eight so it'll be fine."

Gakushuu wanted to bash his head against the table. "I need to revise for the questions—"

"How many questions is he going to ask you that you have to spend nearly four hours revising for?" Okuda frowned. "Koro-sensei says you shouldn't study for that long without taking a break in-between. No wonder you're tired."

"I am not tired," Gakushuu insisted.

"The ten empty energy drink cans you stuffed the garbage disagree, Asano," Nakamura commented, raising an eyebrow.

_It was actually fifteen, but that was beside the point._

His eyes narrowed. "Whatever your concerns may be, it doesn't change the fact I'm not allowed to be here and I _need_ to go home."

There was a pause as his classmate all exchanged looks with one another.

"Yeah, well...that's too bad." Nakamura smiled sweet like sugar, eating a large glob of ice cream. "Because we already ordered seconds, so you're just gonna have to sit tight."

Gakushuu felt his temper flare. "I need to leave!" He started trying to chew at the duct tape.

"Hey!" Terasaka hurried to stop him. "Knock it out!"

The rest of the customers were looking over again, he hoped at least one of them had the sense to call the police!

"Asano!"

The door of the diner chimed, causing them all to look over.

Gakushuu's eyes widened when he saw nine students from 3-A standing in the diner staring at him like he a ghost.

"Finally!" Seo shouted, standing alongside Koyama and six other boys Toda, Hashizume, Tanaka, Kondo, Aoi, and Nashizume,

Gakushuu tensed when they all rushed over while the rest of 3-E quickly grew on guard.

"Asano!" Kanada yelled she was the only girl of the group, short and eyes dazzling with sparkles like she'd cry. "We've been trying to contact you for—ARE YOU TIED UP?!!"

Oh...

"Uh..." Maehara and the others stiffened. "Uh, it—wait, hold on." He stood up and raised his hands placatingly when the Class A students started to look hostile. "This isn't what it looks like!"

"Then what the fuck is it?!" Seo swore as the taller boys started to crack their knuckles.

Maehara started rambling, trying to form a reasonable excuse.

"Shit," Terasaka swore, turning to Nakamura. "What do we do?!"

"We can take them," Karma said, eyeing them.

"Do you want to get expelled?" Fuwa whispered.

"Yeah, the last thing we need is Mr K getting pissed at us for causing a scene," Nakamura whispered, frowning.

"Yeah!" Terasaka actually looked worried. "And who do you think they're gonna blame?"

Nakamura nodded and looked over at the Class A students who looked angrier after Maehara's rambling. "Hey! This is all just a misunderstanding!"

"Asano is here willingly!" Fuwa insisted.

"Then why are his hands duct-taped?" Kondo pointed at Gakushuu.

"Uh...it's a game..." Fuwa gave a strained laugh.

Gakushuu nearly facepalmed.

"Oh, yeah." Kanada glared at them, taking out her phone. "Then why did someone post this video!?"

Gakushuu's eyes widened when he saw a video of Terasaka carrying him—they'd slipped sunglasses over his eyes and put his bag in his arms to hide the tape—into the ice-cream parlour posted on a social media page called 'Stalk Page: Where's Asano?!'.

He blinked a few times to see if the energy drinks had finally messed with his head.

"I told you we should have put him in a bag," Hayami whispered to Fuwa.

"Look, it's really not what it looks like!" Maehara told them. "Right, Asano! Tell them."

Gakushuu looked them straight in the eye. "I barely even know these people."

"You little shit!" Terasaka swore.

Itona shrugged. "Fair play."

"Asano!" The rest of his classmates yelled.

"That's it!" Seo yelled. "Hand him over!"

"When did this become a hostage situation?" Fuwa exclaimed.

"Fuck that!" Nakamura threw her ice-cream at the students so they fell back. "RUN!!"

"LET ME GO!" Gakushuu yelled when Terasaka swooped him over his shoulder and bolted ran over the table as Class E bolted to the door, running over customers tables.

"GET BACK HERE!"

Gakushuu kicked and tried to wrangle free as his former classmates gave chase against a class who was at a very clear physical advantage.

"Stop struggling!" Terasaka tried to duct tape his legs while they ran.

"THIS IS ILLEGAL!!" Asano kicked him in the face but Terasaka didn't let go. "UNHAND ME!"

"Down here!" Nakamura navigated them down an alley. "Come on!"

Gakushuu stopped struggling when he realised they were climbing up the fire escapes of the building, losing the rest of the Class A students in the distance.

The rest of them were panting when they reached the roof, as Terasaka roughly dropped him on the ground.

"Careful!" Gakushuu complained.

Terasaka glared at him. "Then don't kick me!" He rubbed the shoe-shaped red bruise on his face. 

"So much for relaxing," Okuda said breathlessly, wiping sweat from her brow.

"Yeah, who knew the main campus nerds were such stalkers," Maehara commented, sighing. "Guess they really miss you, Asano."

Gakushuu scowled, feeling something strange pinch at his chest. "They're just co-dependent..." he muttered, sitting up. "No doubt they'll be in chaos having to rely on the Principal for leadership..." The pain in his chest started to merge in dread, but he tried to push it away. "And no doubt news of this event will be all over the school by tomorrow." He glowered at them. "Which means the Principal will find out!"

His classmates had the decency to look guilty.

"Hey, we can still have fun," Fuwa argued, frowning. "Come on, you're already out."

Karma shrugged. "Yeah, and if you're going to get in trouble anyway—"

"Will you shut up?" Gakushuu interrupted sharply. "I've already made a spectacle of myself getting roped into this—and there's already a video." His gut twisted, remembering the crack that was still on the living room wall. "If I stay out any longer it'll just make things worse."

His classmates shared confused looks.

"I mean, you're already in E Class." Nakamura shrugged, bending down. "Look, worst he'll do is give you a lecture."

Gakushuu grimaced, clenching his hands tight. "You don't know what his worst is..."

Her eyes widened slightly, her brow pulling into a frown.

Fuwa hummed. "Well...He can't be mad at you if you're outside unwillingly, right?" She grinned, starting to smirk. "So we'll just say we kidnapped you?"

"What?!" He stared at them in alarm. "That doesn't make any—what are you doing?!"

Fuwa had already reached into his pocket and taken out his phone. "Hey, Ritsu?"

"Hi!" Ritsu chimed from his phone.

"Can you call the Principal?" Fuwa asked. "Make sure to distort my voice, okay?"

Gakushuu's eyes widened in horror. "No, don't—"

Karma stuck duct tape over his mouth, gagging him.

"Sure!" Ritsu said brightly. "Calling 'Principal Asano'."

Hayami frowned, looking over at Gakushuu. "That's how he's listed in your contacts?"

Gakushuu glared at her. "Hmfg!"

Nakamura looked wary. "You sure this is a good idea, Fuwa?"

Fuwa grinned. "It'll be great, just watch—they do this all the time in anime!"

_"What is it, Asano?"_

He stiffened when his dad's voice was put on speaker.

Fuwacleared her throat. "We've kidnapped your son and will return him by eight tonight once we've had our way with him!"

...What the fuck?

 _"...Excuse me?"_ The Principal sounded slightly perplexed. _"...Is this Fuwa from 3-E?"_

Fuwa cringed. "Uh, no! I..."

Karma grabbed the phone. "We're not giving him back until we've delivered our revenge!"

"Yeah!" Terasaka grabbed the phone. "The little shit has had it coming since he got here—"

Nakamura shoved him away and grabbed the phone back. "Knock it off, idiot!"

 _"...I see."_ There was a sigh from the other end of the line. _"Nakamura, please put Asano on the line."_

"Uh, no!" Fuwa yelled. "He's gagged."

"Yeah." Nakamura took a picture of her phone of Gakushuu, making him wince at the flash. "See, we're not messing around."

A few second passed when there was a ping heard from the other end of the line and the others exchanged slightly worried looks when the silence stretched.

 _"...Fuwa, Nakamura, Terasaka, Akabane,Ritsu"_ The Principal listed off their names, causing them to tense. _"This isn't funny."_

"Shit..." Fuwa started to look panicked.

" _As amusing as you may find this, I don't have time for these games."_ His voice was cold. _"Or the patience for it. Now, return Asano—"_

"AH! SCREW YOU!" Fuwa yelled in a panic and then hung up the phone.

There was a pause.

Gakushuu stared at the phone like a man staring at a hangman's knot.

"...Well, you five are screwed," Itona commented dryly.

"Don't say that!" Ritsu was already sobbing.

Fuwa gave a nervous laugh. "It tends to work In anime..."

He was going to kill them before the Principal got the chance

"FUFKSWK!!!" Gakushuu started yelling.

The phone rung again when The Principal tied to call.

Fuwa panicked and threw the phone away.

"FUWA!" The rest of them yelled.

"Shut up! We're fugitives!" Fuwa screamed, clutching her head. "IT'S ALL OVER NOW!"

"Why did you think that would work!?" Maehara yelled.

She shook him. "Why did you idiots let me do it!!?"

Gakushuu started banging his head against the stone of the roof.

"Well, what do we do now?" Okuda asked.

"Well, we're in too deep to back out now." Nakamura sighed, resigned. "We might as well go all out if this is it."

Karma nodded, rubbing his chin. "True..." He looked at Gakushuu. "Okay, Asano, you're gonna have fun whether you like it or not, so what do you want to do?"

Gakushuu glared at them, a bruise already on his forehead. "FUFKSWK! IWERIFUFKSHYEAUITEOS!!!"

"Huh." Hayami looked at Karma. "Maybe we should ungag him first?"

Gakushuu hissed when the tape was ripped off. "I said, I'm going to kill you all pain—"

Karma slapped the tape back on. "I think we got the message."

"Well, if he isn't going to tell us, what do we do?" Fuwa sighed, looking hopeless. "Aw, man, this is a disaster."

Nakamura hummed, looking at her phone. "Not yet. Hey, Ritsu?"

Ritsu stopped sobbing. "Huh, yes?"

"You talk to Asano a lot, right?"

"Well yes." She sniffled. "It's mainly centred around world domination though..."

"Yeah, but does he talk about any hobbies or something?" Nakamura pried, causing Gakushuu to stiffen.

"Well..."

"HMFTDNKL!!" Gakushuu tried to stand up and lung for the phone, earning some curious looks.

"In one of his domination plans, he references the Transformers series."

Gakushuu nearly choked on his tongue, freezing.

_Shit._

"Transformers?" Nakamura exclaimed, staring at him in disbelief. "Really?"

"Yeah, really?!" Fuwa looked surprised as well.

Gakushuu's cheeks heated up, frozen on the spot.

"Uh, huh," Ritsu replied.

"I think the new movie is showing around here somewhere," Itona said, already looking on his phone. "The next showing is in thirty minutes."

"Nice! Let's go then," Nakamura said.

"MNNN!" Gakushuu shook his head furiously.

"Oh, come on, it'll be fun," Maehara exclaimed.

Gakushuu snarled under the tape, trying to tear his binds.

"Woah, calm down." Terasaka removed the tape.

Gakushuu gasped when he could speak again. "For the last time." His glare darkened. "Let me go. I don't want to have fun, hell, at this point I'm tempted to murder you myself," he said coldly. "You've made things worse than they were before—if that's even possible—and now I need to go home to somehow explain this mess—

"You're really terrified of him, aren't you?" Karma interrupted, making him go silent. "Kind of hard to believe since you're the same guy who beat half of our class off a pole, or at least tried to."

Gakushuu narrowed his eyes, growing uneasy. "None you have any idea of how much of a mess you're making."

"Then tell us." Karma scrutinised him. "What's the worst he's gonna do?"

"I..."Gakushuu dug his nails into his palms, feeling like he was being pushed to an edge again. "I don't have to explain myself to you. You want me to have fun, but I'm not having fun, and you can't force me to."

An uneasy silence settled for a moment.

Nakamura sighed. "Look, we're sorry we got you roped into this, we seriously were just gonna take you out for ice cream."

Okuda looked guilty. "I'm the one who suggested the drugs...."

_Seriously?!_

_It's not surprising but still..._

Karma shrugged. "I suggested the duct tape."

_Of course, you did!!_

"Yeah, we knew you wouldn't come willingly," Hayami said, shrugging.

"We didn't mean for things to get out of control," Fuwa said, looking embarrassed. "We just wanted to help..."

Gakushuu grimaced, hunching his shoulders up.

"Yeah, seriously, you need to take a break or you'll drop dead," Terasaka said frowning.

"I'm not going to drop dead." Gakushuu scowled. "I can handle it!"

"What, like at midterms?" Karma shot back, causing him to pale.

Hayami hit the sadist at the back of head. "Shut up, Karma."

Gakushuu looked away from them. "That was different...I...I just was...I got distracted and lost focus." He swallowed a lump in his throat. "It was a moment of weakness. It won't happen again."

_It would not happen again._

"There's a limit to how much stress the brain can take before fatigue takes over," Ritsu said promptly from Nakamura's phone. "That isn't an opinion. It's _science_ , and the lack of sleep will accelerate the deterioration."

Gakushuu grimaced, knowing it was scientifically true for most people. But, the Principal survived off two hours sleep every day and stayed strong, so why couldn't he? Was it because he was weaker? Less driven?

All this over Koro-sensei's meddling; he wanted to strangle the octopus.

Why did everyone keep interfering? Even 3-A was and he wasn't their concern anymore...

_They were all such...idiots._

His grimace grew when a horrible warm feeling started to grow in his chest.

"Fine." He wanted to just forget about this an actually sleep for once, feeling the buzz of the energy drinks wore off. "If I watch this stupid movie with you, will you just let me go home and never do anything as stupid as this again?"

Their faces brightened. "Yes!"

_Morons._

Gakushuu scowled. "Then untie me, because I refuse to be carried in like a rag doll!"

"Hm..." Nakamura frowned, glancing at Hayami who shrugged. "Okay, but Hayami still has some spare darts so..."

"Yes, I assumed so," Gakushuu replied dryly as Karma cut away the duct tape. "Let's just go see the movie before you find a way of making even more of a mess of things and get me killed somehow."

***

So they went to the movies and saw the film, and it was...

"That was terrible," Gakushuu said, crossing his arms as they stayed sitting in their seats while the credits rolled. "I'm insulted on behalf of the franchise."

"It wasn't _that_ bad!" Fuwa argued.

Karma shrugged, slurping his milkshake. "The explosions were good."

"The voice acting sucked." Terasaka scoffed.

"I thought it was good," Hayami said, shrugging.

"I liked the CGI," Itona commented, eating his giant box of popcorn.

Gakushuu sneered, standing up. "None of you have taste." They all started to walk out of the viewing. "And you've confirmed that this whole thing really was a waste of my time."

"Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad," Nakamura laughed, as they walked into the lobby. "At you had fun—oh, shit."

Mr Karasuma was standing in the lobby, staring at them with a hard and dead look. "Where do I even begin?"

Gakushuu scoffed. "It's about time."

The culprits stood stock still.

"...It was Karma," Itona said, eating some popcorn.

Karma shrugged. "Terasaka dragged me into it."

"What?!" Terasaka snapped.

Karasuma sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I have just spent the last hour talking down the Principal from suspending each one of you for kidnapping his son."

"...He's not tied up," Nakamura said, shrugging. "So is it really kid—?"

"Enough." Mr Karasuma shut them down, sighing again like a man losing hope.

Gakushuu could understand his torment. "I assume the Principal is waiting for me outside?"

The agent nodded. "Yes. Please go on ahead." Mr Karasuma fixed the remaining students with a glare. "I need to deal with _this_."

Okuda gulped while the others smiled sheepishly.

Gakushuu sighed. "Understood." He looked at his classmates for a moment. "Try to do this again and I will press allegations."

Nakamura looked amused. "You had fun, though, right?"

He sighed. "If I say yes, will you stop asking?"

"No, but you can try." Fuwa patted him on the back.

"You're all ridiculous." Gakushuu shook his head and walked to the exit.

"See you tomorrow," Okuda waved goodbye.

Gakushuu got in the black car waiting outside in the parking lot.

The Principal looked him over when he got in. "...Hm." He nodded at the driver to drive off. "Well, that was a spectacle."

Gakushuu sighed. "They're idiots. Honestly, I'm concerned how they'll ever become functioning members of society."

The Principal hummed, tapping his finger against the armrest of the window. "They still managed to catch you off guard and drag you half-way across the city."

Gakushuu scowled faintly, holding back a glare. "I didn't ask to be kidnapped."

"No, you didn't." The Principal scrutinised him for a moment. "Keep your guard up so that they don't do so again."

Gakushuu crossed his arms and leant against the seat. "I wasn't planning on letting it happen again."

The Principal stayed quiet, causing a somewhat peaceful silence to fill the car.

***

When he was certain the Principal had finally gone to bed at 1 am, Gakushuu snuck outside to where he'd memorised a blindspot from all the cameras.

He frowned when he looked through the numbers on his burner phone until he came to Ren and hesitated, his thump hovering over the green button.

Gakushuu called him, pressing the phone to his ear while it rang for a while, the seconds stretching on.

 _"Uh..."_ Ren's voice was groggy. _"If this is a booty call, I'm too tired."_

"What?!"

 _"Gakushuu!"_ Ren's voice instantly grew more awake. _"I've been trying to call you for days!"_

He grimaced. "I was...pre-occupied."

_"What? Getting kidnapped across the city?!"_

Gakushuu sighed. "I wasn't actually kidnapped. I'm not useless." He scowled. "It was a misunderstanding...of some kind—regardless, I didn't call because of that."

"Oh, okay. Is this about you coming back?" Ren asked. "Because things are kind of a real mess right now..." He gave a strained laugh which made Gakushuu frown. _"Your dad is...and things in class are a little...disorganised."_

"I did assume," Gakushuu muttered, trying to smother the concern starting to grow. "While I understand things are chaotic. There's no point in you all tying to talk to me or stalk my whereabouts. It'll just cause you more trouble."

 _"What? No, we want to talk to you,"_ Ren argued. _"Asano—"_

"I'm not your leader anymore, Ren," Gakushuu said firmly, feeling something twist in his chest. "I'm not...I failed. I don't deserve to lead our... _your_ class anymore. The Principal has made that very clear."

 _"That's bullshit,"_ Ren swore, sounding angry. _"You're a great leader—everyone makes mistakes, it's not your fault—"_

"I'm not even in the top 50 anymore," Gakushuu said bitterly. "Until I can climb back up I'm not fit to lead Class A."

His grades had been abysmal at midterms, he hadn't even ranked under a hundred.

"I belong in Class E until I can properly call myself one of the strong again," Gakushuu said, resigned.

 _"Will you stop?"_ Ren snapped, sounding upset. _"You seriously think we just followed you because you got good grades?!"_

Gakushuu paused, growing unsure. "...Well considering the rankings—"

 _"Gakushuu,"_ Ren said sternly, interrupting. _"Look, you getting top grades is great, and yeah a lot of us respect that, but that's not the only reason. You earned our respect because you keep trying to win and you never give up."_

Gakushuu's brow furrowed, kneeling on the ground to shield from the chilly autumn air. "I still failed."

 _"Yeah, well..."_ Ren sighed. _"It doesn't matter. I know the Principal says it does but, you know what, he's wrong,"_ he told him hesitantly. _"Some things are more important."_

"Hm." He grimaced, growing restless. "It still doesn't send me back to A-Class." He sighed. "And it doesn't stop you all getting in trouble for going to ridiculous lengths to contact me."

_"Then return my calls!"_

Gakushuu rolled his eyes, standing up. "If I agree to, will you reign them in and take down that stupid social media page."

 _"...I can't promise the social media page will be taken down,"_ Ren said after a moment. _"But I can get them to calm down and be patient."_

At least that was some progress.

"Good," Gakushuu said. "It's exhausting already having to handle one class of idiots, I don't need a second."

Ren chuckled. "Wow, that bad, huh?"

"Unfortunately,..." His thoughts drifted to the days' events and then the disaster attempt at rescuing Bitch-sensei. "But entertaining..."

_"What?"_

"Nothing," he replied quickly. "Anyway, I have to go. I'll return your calls once I am certain you've reigned the rest of them in."

Ren laughed again _. "You're the boss."_

The corner of Gakushuu's lips twisted upwards. "Well someone has to instil some order." He frowned faintly. "I...appreciate your competency and advisement."

There was a long pause. _"...Did you just thank me?"_

Gakushuu quickly hung up the phone


	4. Sign the Waiver Form

Mr Karasuma sighed when he slid back the assassination proposal Itona and Gakushuu had sent him. "I'm sorry, but my superiors couldn't authorise the supply of a pressure ray."

"What?!" Gakushuu exclaimed. "Why not? You're telling me you can afford the budget for a giant pudding but not a pressure ray?!"

Itona raised an eyebrow. "Odd priorities."

Mr Karasuma sighed, clasping his hands on his desk. "I'm sorry, but they won't authorise it. I wasn't informed on the details. You'll need to redraw up the plans."

Gakushuu scowled and grabbed the proposal off the desk. "Ridiculous." He marched out of the teachers' lounge. "There's only two reason they'd deny giving us that machine," he said as they walked down the hallway. "Either my father has drained them dry from extortion; which even for him would take a while. Or they're hoarding resources for something else."

"It'll be the second." Itona ate some crisps. "The deadline isn't that far away. They must be planning something."

Gakushuu frowned, pausing when they got outside. "It would make sense..." He rubbed his chin. "That kind of technology is one of the few that can trap Koro-sensei." He sighed. "And making one from scratch would take too long, even if we managed to get even half of the equipment." He ran a hand down his face impatiently. "I have at least a dozen plans we could pull off with that equipment.

Itona hummed, chewing on his snacks loudly. "Well..." He ate his crisps "We could always steal one."

Gakushuu turned to the other boy in surprise. "What?"

The boy shrugged. "Shiro has one laying around in one of his labs. We can just take that one."

His brow furrowed. "We can't just—this isn't just something we can take, Itona. Someone will notice."

Bending the rules was one thing but he wasn't getting jailed over this!

"Nah. The lab is pretty understaffed and Shiro won't notice for months," Itona replied, shrugging as he munched on his crisps. "He's an asshole anyway, so he deserves it."

From what Gakushuu had been told, he did seem like one.

But, that was besides the point!

"How would we even take it?" Gakushuu questioned.

Itona shrugged. "I don't know. You're meant to be smart."

Gakushuu scowled, considering it...

It would be the fastest solution to get the technology and since Itona had inside knowledge they might be able to pull it off...

"Do you know where it would be?" he asked.

Itona hummed, seeming to think about it. "I remember there was a warehouse where they stored most of the equipment. He keeps the powerful stuff in his biggest lab."

"I see..." Gakushuu looked at the rejected proposal, tapping his thumb on the folder. "Do you think Mr Karasuma would help us steal it?"

"No, he follows the rules," Itona replied.

"True..." Gakushuu sighed, thinking about it. Going on a mission without their teachers was risky and they could be killed if they were sloppy...

It wasn't like Shiro was a good person after all, he experimented and would kill children if need be...

But, if they got caught...

Despite popular belief, he didn't actually want his classmates to die. Especially not by his hand, just think of the lawsuits.

Hacking, blackmail, threats, and even fraud were one thing, but even he had his limits...

He weighed up the options, 3-E were reckless but if they had a solid plan and proper preparation, they might successful. It would be a challenge but it wasn't doomed to failure.

He'd pulled off countless tasks which had seemed impossible in the past, and a machine like that would be valuable for their mission...

Gakushuu grimaced, glancing down at Itona. "...How many people do you think we'd need?"

***

"...So, as you can see." Gakushuu pointed at the projection on the board during lunch when Karasuma was in a meeting, Koro-sensei was in Shanghai, and Bitch-sensei had gone off for her afternoon smoke and 'alone time'. "The plan is fairly straight forward."

His classmates looked surprised, staring at the plans being projected by Ritsu on the blackboard.

The projections showed a diagram of the main layout of the building Ritsu had gathered with Itona's help.

"The passage ways are used for transportation of supplies and..." Gakushuu wrinkled his nose. "And before relocation, human patients..." There was an ugly silence briefly. "They run throughout the building and provide a quick route to transportation vehicles in case the Government or authorities conduct a raid of the facility and it's violation of human rights."

The diagram shifted to show a minimalistic area underground which the tunnels ran through. "The first main issue is that we don't have a clear blueprint of this area which is underground," he explained to them as they listened and some of them took notes. "According to Itona the assets that are stored in the underground lab section are machinery and chamicals, so it's used more for side-projects and understaffed."

"Especially since their funding got funnelled to the third lab," Itona commented.

Gakushuu nodded. "So we need to go to the lower levels to find the pressure ray."

"There's also the weird experiments," Itona commented.

The class turned to look at him in alarm.

"...What kind of experiments?" Maehara asked warily.

Itona shrugged. "Just leftovers. The place has low security so nothing massive or dangerous is really kept there, I only ever went for maintenance." He gave another shrug, looking from their concerned looks. "There's still some weird stuff down there. Shiro had a few weird tentacle side-projects going on."

"Ew!" Okano grimaced.

"...What kind of weird?" Okajima looked curious.

Gakushuu quickly cleared his throat. "Yes, there is that risk to consider as well. Then there is the guard rota." Ritsu went to the next slide showing IDs of the head guards and then the shift patterns. "Ritsu managed to hack into their HR system to get an outline on the shifts. There's a changeover between evening to night at 10pm, which is when they run on skeleton staff with the scientists."

"What about the alarms?" Takebayashi asked.

"There's four control points we need to take out first," Gakushuu explained. "We also need to record a cycle for the cameras so it can be put on loop. Judging by the size of the building and our numbers, we'll need to separate into three teams to make sure everything runs smoothly," he told them. "I want us in and out of there within 90 minutes."

Ritsu ended the projection.

Gakushuu cleared his throat, looking at them expectantly. "So...do I have your compliance?

"Compliance?!"

They looked alarmed.

He scowled. "I meant..." He tried to find a friendlier definition. "Do I have your...help?"

_Yes, that seemed appropriate._

"Well..." Isogai smiled. "I can't speak for everyone, but I'm on board."

Kataoka nodded. "Yeah, me too. It sounds exciting!"

Terasaka smirked. "And it would feel good getting one over that prick!"

"Yeah!" Yoshida and Muramatsu's high fived. "That asshole has it coming."

Kanzaki rubbed her chin. "It's kind of scary since we wouldn't have our teachers backing us up...but I really wanna do it!"

Nagisa nodded, looking at his notes. "Yeah, me too."

Karma hummed, leaning back in his chair. "It sounds fun." He smirked. "Who knew you were up for breaking the law."

Gakushuu scowled. "Considering his illegal activities, I doubt morality is an issue here."

"Fair point." Karma grinned, plopped his chair back on the ground. "But if you're leading you're gonna have to be less of a control freak."

A vein appeared on Gakushuu's forehead. "I don't know what you mean."

"Uh..."

His classmates exchanged amused looks.

"Maybe it would help if you choose a second in command to help move things along?" Hayami suggested.

Gakushuu frowned, surveying them. "I suppose..."

The main disaster of the Pole Toppling had been his teammates inability to think for themselves...which at the time had seemed like a strength but...

He quickly shoved the thoughts away. "Very well..." His gaze swept over the class trying to make a decision.

Isogai, while insufferable, was a good leader, if not sometimes too diplomatic. He would follow orders efficiently and had strong communication skills and seemed well read in basic strategy.

Nakamura was smart, if not lewd. She seemed to take and deliver commands easily and followed tasks efficiently, but her pervert remarks threw him off.

Itona was tactile but too abrupt when giving commands and worked better independently.

Karma was...no.

Gakushuu looked at Isogai. "Isogai, I've decided you shall take the position."

"Okay, thanks," Isogai smiled that annoying positive smile of his. "I'll do my best."

"Good." Gakushuu reached behind the desk to grab the final items. "Now, before we continue. Considering the danger of the mission..." He made them jump when he dumped a large stack of folders. "You'll need to read through the mission strategy and sign this waiver form." He held up the ten page waiver form.

"HOW THICK?!!"

His classmates yelled.

Gakushuu shrugged, dumping the forms on the folder. "I'm not facing legal issues if any of you end up injured or dead."

"Seriously?!!" Mimura looked scared.

****

Gakushuu decided to ask the Principal when he saw the man have a glass of wine on the Friday; it wasn't exactly common since the man hardly drunk, but when he did he always opted for red and he tended to be more laid back after.

"...The class is planning an assassination attempt this week," he ventured, cutting up his steak.

"Oh?" The Principal replied. "What public property will they be damaging this week?"

The wine also made his father irritatingly more condescending.

Gakushuu rolled his eyes. "It's mainly research. They want to put the pellet I food, but they're having difficulty analysing the correct snacks as well as quantity."

"How fascinating." His father barely looked interested.

"They're doing recon on Saturday night," he continued. "The octopus always has late night snack runs in the area around 8pm to Midnight to get the cheapest reduced discounts he can get before closing, and they've practically begged me to assist."

The Principal hummed, frowning faintly when he looked at him. "It sounds as if you've made yourself indispensable."

Gakushuu kept his expression blank. "Whether you care or not, someone needs to stop the world from ending come March."

"Yes, I'm aware." He sipped his wine. "If it's a recon mission surely they can just record the activity for you to view later."

"We need to cover multiple areas—I emailed you over a list," he explained. "Besides, I am expected to take part in the assassination plans as required by the government."

"That is true," The Principal replied lightly. "Is Mr Karasuma aware?"

"Of course, he cleared the mission," Gakushuu replied.

"Will he be attending?"

He scoffed. "We're perfectly capable of running a recon mission."

"Are you now?" His father's brow rose. " _Well_ , I suppose you are the assassins."

Gakushuu grimaced at his tone. "If you don't wish me to attend then just say so."

"Now, I never said that." The Principal drank some more wine. "What time would you be back?"

"1 am the latest," he replied, trying not to look hopeful.

"Will you have your new phone with you?"

_Shit..._

"Yes, of course," Gakushuu replied evenly.

The Principal hummed, sipping from his drink. "Then you can go."

***

"So you're sure you can change the GPS location?" Gakushuu asked as they were getting ready for their mission.

"Yep!" Ritsu replied cheerfully. "I can mess around with the signal to throw your location off a few miles so he won't have a clue!"

"Wait, your dad tracks your phone?!" Maehara yelled when he overheard.

Gakushuu frowned, looking over his shoulder. "Yes?" He shrugged. "It's just his way of monitoring—though it is annoying." He tapped on his new phone. "At least as far as I can tell he hasn't chipped it. He tried that when I was ten but it was simple enough to disable."

Maehara stilled looked disturbed for some reason.

Then again, even he supposed the Principal's paranoia had had started to become obsessive. Ever since getting kicked out of the Main Campus building it was like the man needed to know exactly what he was doing 24/7.

He sighed and turned to Isogai. "Is everyone in their teams?"

Th dark haired boy nodded. "Yep. All radios are functioning, and everyone has separated into the teams."

Gakushuu nodded. "Get the Omega team in position, I want Mimura and Sugaya have those cameras looped in less than two minutes of the Takebayashi and Hazama cutting the south gate alarm. Then join the Beta team."

"Right." Isogai nodded.

"We need to be in position ready to move the second the cameras near the cameras are looped near the tunnel," Gakushuu told him, heading over to his team.

The Alpha team was gathered behind the hill overlooking the lab near a blindspot. Itona was messing with the small communicator, while the others Nagisa, Hayami, Terasaka, Yoshida, Kimura, Okano, Okajima, and Sugino, were waiting.

"We'll be ready to move out in ten minutes, don't fall behind," Gakushuu said evenly. "We're on a time limit."

Nagisa smiled, nodding. "Don't worry, we're fast."

Sugino winked. "We're stealth masters."

Hayami shrugged, cleaning her gun. "Well at least some of us are."

Terasaka huffed, the duffel bag over his shoulders. "Whatever, we know what we're doing, Asano."

Gakushuu sighed, turning to face the lab. "Honesty, I'm surprised you all made it this far in the term without somehow inducing bodily harm on yourself—why do you think I had you sign those waivers?"

***

The omega team disabled security and looped the cameras, allowing them to move into the small chasm near the bridge that lead to the tunnel.

Ritsu unlocked the door, allowing them in.

"I've disabled the cameras five ahead," she explained as they ran through the dark and long tunnel. "I'll reactivate them once you passed so security doesn't catch on, but with them changing guards the cameras feed will be unmanned for five minutes."

"Good job." Gakushuu looked impressed by her attention to detail. "Let's keep moving."

When they made it to the end of the tunnel they paused near the corner overlooking the main part of the transport bay.

"I'm picking up seven guards in the main transport section," Ritsu told them.

"You said they were still changing over?" Gakushuu frowned. "There should only be three on duty right now."

Ritsu looked sheepish. "I underestimated the amount of undocumented overtime they pull!" She frowned. "Seriously, Shiro isn't exactly following proper trade union standards..."

"Among the human experimentation," he replied dryly, before sighing. "If the Beta team leads them away, my team should be able to sneak through to the South Elevator."

Isogai nodded from behind Gakushuu. "We have the supplies to cause a distraction," he said. "Karma can lead a sabotage."

Gakushuu frowned. "We're not using real explosives."

Karma smirked, holding up some wasabi. "Who said anything about real explosives?" He tossed the wasabi up and down. "There's loads of machinery here just waiting to be messed with. Don't worry, I can be creative."

Isogai chuckled while Gakushuu sighed. "Fine. But be quick about it," he lectured before turning to his team. "Follow close while the others cause the distraction—Nagisa you stick in front."

The blue haired boy would be the least likely to be noticed first.

Nagisa nodded. "Right."

They separated into the groups, moving quietly as the guards patrolled.

A few minutes later there was a sound like a car exhaust backing up, followed by coughing. A powerful smell of spiced leaking into the air like a toxic cloud.

"What the hell?!" A guard was yelling and choking.

Gakushuu nodded at Nagisa to move ahead.

"What's going on?" Two of the guards headed to the commotion as more guards started choking and swearing.

"Dude, what did he make?" Okajima whispered.

Sugino smiled sheepishly as they followed after. "I mean, it's Karma and Wasabi so..."

The group hurries into the elevator once Ritsu unlocked it.

Nagisa sighed in relief once they were inside. "So, he stored most of the machines past the Biology section."

Itona nodded. "Easier access when experimenting."

  
Gakushuu grimaced faintly, keeping an eye on his phone when Ritsu fed a feed of the room below. "It's clear, we just need to head north and then take a right." He glanced over his shoulder. "Kimura, Nagisa, scope out the area in case there's any blindspots from the cameras, then give the all clear."

The two boys nodded. "Got it!"

Gakushuu touched his radio. "Team Omega, is the exit route still clear?"

"Yes," Takebayashi's voice fizzed, but the connection was weak. "All...clear still..."

"Good. Notify Ritsu if anything is amiss." He frowned, looking up as the elevator when further down. "This is a lot further down than the blueprints suggested..."

His classmates shared uncertain looks briefly, but then Nagisa smiled hopefully. "Don't worry, it'll be fine."

"Ritsu's signal is still strong even if we lose the radios," Itona commented. "And Beta team should still be close enough to communicate."

Gakushuu hummed as the elevator came to a stop. "True."

The elevator doors opened up into a white sterile entrance way to a large thick biohazard door.

_...Interesting._

Hayami took out her anti-sensei gun, earning some looks. "What? Itona said there'd be tentacles."

"Isogai?" Gakushuu radioed the other team. "Have you hooked Ritsu up to record the loop on our floor?"

"We've hooked her up to the wires and she's recording the loop, once it's done we'll tell you when she's shut the pasted the recording on the camera feed," Isogai relayed.

"Good." Gakushuu scutinised the door.

"So anyone else getting mutated zombie feels?" Kimura shivered.

Gakushuu rolled his eyes. "You play too many video games."

"Look, I'm not the only one who doesn't want to be held responsible for releasing a plague!" Okajima exclaimed.

Gakushuu sighed deeply. "We're not going to release a plague."

"And how do you know?" Yoshida argued.

He shook his head and radioed again. "Isogai?"

"Nearly done," the other boy replied.

Gakushuu hummed as they waited.

"This is still cool, though," Okano commented, shrugging. "You sure don't do anything in halves, Asano."

Terasaka smirked, ruffling his head. "Mr perfect out here breaking all the rules."

Gakushuu grimaced and whacked is hand away. "Don't touch me."

"Okay." Isogai's voice came through the other end. "All clear."

Itona hooked Ritsu up to unlock it.

They waited a few more minutes until Ritsu made a frustrated noise.

"It still won't budge!" Ritsu complained. "I need to bypass more security. Just hold on."

Gakushuu sighed, checking his GPS location so it hadn't moved much, he grimaced when he saw the location was fluttering around. "Ritsu, are you still diverting my GPS location?"

"What?!" Ritsu appread on screen looking stressed with her hair a mess. "Oh! Sorry, Asano, I'm just juggling a lot of tasks at once and it's harder since we're underground, but don't worry it's fine."

His location quickly stabilised. "Hm..."

The AI went back to unlocking the door until finally after five more minute it beeped, allowing them to enter.

Gakushuu frowned when he sniffed the air, it was damp.

On the other side there were different lines of chemicals and cases.

Kimura and Nagisa went on ahead while the rest of them hung back. They looked around the different cases but they were sealed shut.

"It's all clear," Nagisa said from the radio.

Gakushuu and the other re-joined them. "Spread out into twos and search the perimeter on the map." He showed them his phone. "It'll cover these five areas where the machine could be."

They spread out to find it.

Gakushuu followed Itona to the most likely location, going through the maze of hallways that all started to look the same.

He and Itona ducked behind a corner when they saw two scientists walk by.

Itona came to a stop outside a room packed with empty cages. "Hm..." His brow furrowed. "I thought it would be here..."

Gakushuu's skin prickled uneasily when he saw some dried blood on one of the cage bars. "...I don't think anyone's been here for a while..."

"Yeah..." Itona stared at one small cage near a bunch of IVs. "...They used to do maintenance in here." His frown grew, touching his neck. "For the tentacles...they'd use the pressure ray sometimes."

Gakushuu shifted uncomfortably, looking away from the scene. "I see..."

_What was he even supposed to say?!_

Itona stayed silent for a while, probably reliving past trauma...

Gakushuu cringed, feeling lost on what to do.

He was supposed to comfort him, wasn't he? That's what leaders did. _Placate._

Hesitently, he placed a hand on Itona's shoulder and cleared his throat. "...We should go."

Itona paused and looked at the hand on his shoulder. "...Why are you touching me?"

Gakushuu grew flustered and quickly removed his hand. "Just come on, we're wasting time!"

When they went back in the hallway, Okajima radioed in.

"Hey, we found it!" Okajima reported.

Gakushuu nearly smiled. "Where?"

"Room – 206."

"Tell the others, we'll be there in two minutes," Gakushuu replied, hurrying down the hallway.

The room itself was further

When they got to the room, Okano, Kimura, Sugino and Nagisa were already there with Okajima and Yoshida. The room barely had any light, with different machinery around the corners and test tubes and there was a scientist knocked out on—

"Why is that man unconscious?" Gakushuu narrowed his eyes at them.

Okajima gave a nervous laugh. "Well, he caught me snooping so Yoshida knocked him out with the fire extinguisher."

Yoshida shrugged. "He probably won't remember, I hit him pretty hard."

Gakushuu sighed loudly. "Let's just get out here, quickly." He looked at the machine which looked like the pressure ray, it was a box shape, about the size of a medium crate with a long beam where the light was, it was turned off and was hovering over a green basin of slime in a glass box. "What's that?"

"Just slime—we poked it and it didn't do anything," Yoshida replied.

_What?!_

"You _poked_ it?" Nagisa questioned, looking alarmed.

"Why would you poke it?!" Gakushuu snapped.

Okajima frowned. "To see if it was alive."

"Uh..." Sugino looked worried. "I don't think—"

Terasaka came in with the duffel bag. "Okay, I'm here, let's load it up."

Hayami followed behind him, looking around. "Are we sure this is it?"

"Yeah." Okajima turned the light on and off, emitting a pale purple glow. "It's labelled pressure ray so..."

"Let's hurry up and leave," Gakushuu said, growing uneasy as he looked around the room. "Itona, you keep watch."

"Yeah, yeah, we're on it." Terasaka undid the duffel bag and brought out a collapsible suitcase carrier with wheels." He started to re-assemble the carrier with Hayami and Yoshida.

Gakushuu sighed and walked over to the scientist where Okano was nudging the man in the side. "There is the possibility he may be brain damaged."

"You think so?" Kimura gave a strained laugh. "Well, he is kind of an evil scientist."

Okano shrugged. "Pretty much."

"Maybe he was just trying to feed his starving kids?" Sugino offered.

Nagisa frowned. "You'd think there'd be better careers than human experimentation."

"I bet the pays good, you know, to make up the no morality thing," Okajima said.

"Yeah, I bet they have a pension scheme going on," Kimura commented.

Gakushuu sighed. "Please stop talking." He turned back to Terasaka and the other two who were moving towards the light. "Okano, Sugino, help them lift the pressure ray, the last ting we need is it breaking."

The four of his classmates carefully lifted up the heavy machine.

"Careful," he cautioned, crossing his arms as he watched them lift, and then nearly drop it. "Don't break it you idiots!!"

"Then try helping!" Terasaka hissed.

Gakushuu shook his head, not moving to help.

"Uh...Asano." Nagisa pulled his arm.

"What?"

"...The slime's disappeared."

Everyone in the room froze, like an icy touch was lithering up their backs.

Terasaka and the others were mid-carrying the pressure ray, hovering it over the carrier Yoshida was steadying.

Oh...

Gakushuu stayed calm and looked over at the glass case which was now empty. "...I see." He turned to the others. "Let's...let's not panic." He looked around. "Everyone just stay calm."

Nagisa started sweating, looking around, as the others were nervous as well like they were surrounded already.

_Deep breaths._

"Terasaka, Hayami, Sugino, Okano. Slowly put the light on the carrier," Gakushuu said evenly.

The four did as they were told, shaking a little as they lowered the machine down.

Then they heard a blop noise, causing Kimura to gulp.

Gakushuu took a deep breath and looked at the floor where a puddle of slime, about the size of a desk in width, moved around on the floor.

_Oh, shit._

"Stay calm." Gakushuu slowly edged away from it with the others as the pressure ray was frantically strapped in. "It probably can't see us."

"Asano, it's moving..." Sugino whispered.

"Yes, I can see that!" Gakushuu hissed.

The slime moved around until it formed a slime ball.

Hayami pointed the gun at it.

"Wait," Gakushuu whispered. "You'll just aggravate it to attacke!"

"You have any better ideas?" she hissed.

"If we edge out of the door we can close it in time," Okajima suggested.

Gakushuu nodded, keeping his eyes on the creature. "Yes. Everyone move slow. Edge back..."

The slime kept rolling around getting rounder and then more misshapen.

"What is it doing?" Yoshida edged back with the carrier.

Then the slim formed two tentacles at the side, wobbling back an forth, causing them to freeze in terror until two giant and strangely adorable eyes formed at the front of the creature.

"Uh..." Gakushuu gawked, staring at the small creature which looked...kind of like a baby. "Huh..."

The creature lost it's balance and fell on the floor, drooling.

They all shared surprised looks, almost out the door, as the small creature sprouted two more tentacles so it could stand like a dog; it was the size of a cat by now.

"You, know," Okano said, starting to smile. "It looks kind of cute—"

It sprouted six more legs and fangs and then ran towards them like a giant tarantula.

"OH, SHIT!!!" They shouted.

They nearly desecrated themselves as they ran for their lives.

"Not, cute!" Okano sobbed as they ran down the hallway. "NOT CUTE!!"

Gakushuu nearly bashed into a wall as they manoeuvred down the hallway. "This way." He looked at his map.

"Guys!" Ritsu appeared on his phone, panicked. "What is that thing?!"

"Shiro's special kink, who the fuck knows!" Terasaka shouted. "We need to get out of here."

The tentacle spider was nipping at the older boys heel, trying grab.

"Watch out!" Hayami and Itona shot at it.

That just made the creature angrier and pick up speed.

_Shit!_

"You have to lose, it you can't let it go outside!" Ritsu stressed, running some number frantically. 

"We can lose it in the south storage room," Okano suggested.

When they turned a corner they ran into two guards who were running up the hall. "Hey, what—!?"

Nagisa dropped down and skidded on the tiles, tazering the two men in the neck when he rolled and jumped back up.

Gakushuu's eyes widened in alarm when the two bodies dropped to the floor.

"Come on!" Nagisa shouted worriedly, hurrying ahead.

...He supposed Isogai hadn't been lying about the boy's...talent.

He quickly focussed and hurried after him, they just need to take another right—

His phone started ringing.

Gakushuu swore loudly as they ducked into the dark storage room where there were rows upon rows of shelves.

He and his classmates panted as they hid behind a large set of boxes. He sighed in relief when the phone stopped ringing, looking over to see if the creature had followed them in.

The room was dark, so it was hard to see, the only light coming from the hallway, leaking in and casting shadows which melt into the corners of the storage room.

"Fuck!" Terasaka bashed his fist against the machine. "What do we do now?"

Hayami reloaded her gun. "Kill it."

"Jesus Christ, Hayami!" Sugino nearly choked.

"Will you shut up, it might be able to hear us," Gakushuu lectured.

Then his phone started ringing again.

_Oh, fuck._

The Principal didn't tolerate being ignored.

Gakushuu's hands shook when he went to answer it.

"What are you doing!" Nagisa grabbed his hand, tying to stop him.

"If I don't answer it he'll be suspicious," Gakushuu replied, breaking out into a sweat.

"SO?!" His classmates hissed.

The phone kept ringing.

He imagined the Principal waiting on the other end, growing more impatient.

"Just be quiet," Gakushuu whispered, trying to calm down and take a deep breath before he answered the phone. "Yes, hello?"

"I'm just checking in," the Principal said from the other end of the line.

"Oh?" Gakushuu curled his legs up to his knees, staring at the dark corners of the room. "Why? Is there an issue?"

"Well your GPS Location is quite sporadic but I imagine that's just a technical fault."

His mouth felt dry. "Yes. I assume so, we're actually under a bridge keeping watch for the octopus..." He trailed off when he saw the tentacle tarantula bump into a storage box; not able to see properly in the dark room. "So that...will be why...the signal is weak."

The creature bumped into more storage boxes

"...Really?" His father's tone shifted. "You're under a bridge?"

Gakushuu held his hand holding the phone to stop it from shaking as the creature slowly and clumsily edged closer.

"Asano..." Nagisa whispered, tugging his arm.

"Yes." Gakushuu forced himself to stay calm. "Like I said, the signal is bad. Anyway." He swallowed, edging away with the others as the creature moved closer and closer. "I have to go...Koro-sensei will be here."

There was a pause from the other end of the line, as Hayami pointed her gun at the creature.

"...Is everything alright, Asano," the Principal asked lightly. "You sound...off."

"What?" he tried to sound indignant.

"Hang up, idiot," Terasaka hissed but he ignored him.

"You do realise this is bordering on obsessive," Gakushuu threw in some banter as he could just make out the tentacle tarantula coming close to his leg. "Everything is fine." His voice went a little high when he felt a tentacle start to wrap around his foot. "I..."

_Oh, God!_

"Asano?" The tone was cold now. "What—?"

"I will see you at home!" Gakushuu hung up the phone and then kicked the creature in the face and shot it with his anti-sensei gun. "RUN!"

They all bolted while the tentacle tarantula made a screeching noise and flailed on the ground in the dark.

They all bolted, running down the hallway, knocked out two scientists, and headed to the exit without looking back.

***

Gakushuu was nearly hyperventilating when they hit the grassy terrain outside.

"Whoa, are you guys okay?" Hara asked as she and the Omega and Beta team watched them warily.

The Alpha team looked like they had been dragged through hell and then spat back out.

"...If I ever..." Gakushuu panted, kneeling on the grass as he looked up to glare at them. "If I ever propose an idea like this again, please _, punch me in the face_."

"WE'LL HELP!" The rest of the Alpha team yelled

The others looked bewildered.

"That was so close!" Sugino leant against a tree. "We gotta get out of here fast!"

Gakushuu nodded, standing up. "Yoshida, where's our transporter?"

Yoshida wiped some sweat from his brow. "I told him to wait further down the street, he thinks we're transporting old junk for a school project."

"What does he think you're carrying?" Chiba asked, looking at the pressure ray which was miraculously intact.

"Uh...a projector? I was vague on the details," Yoshida replied, shrugging.

"Let's just hurry up and get out of here," Gakushuu ordered, feeling exhausted as the adrenaline wore off.

"Are things going to be okay with your dad?" Nagisa asked worriedly as they walked down the hill.

He grimaced. "Well, I'll need to come up with a decent alibi but I should be able to explain myself."

"Why what happened?" Isogai asked.

Gakushuu felt a rise of embarrassment. "He called me..."

"While we were being chased by a monster!" Okajima complained.

"Oh, shit!" Maehara exclaimed.

Gakushuu sighed. "Yes, well, he's suspicious but I'm sure I can convince him it was nothing dangerous..." His stomach twisted when he remembered the night a couple of weeks ago and the large crack which seemed a permanent fixture on their living room wall. "It'll be fine..."

"I'll carry it the rest of the way," Yoshida said, stuffing his weapons and combat vest in a backpack so he was just in a black top and cargo pants. "If he sees all of you it'll just make him suspicious."

"Just make sure he handles it carefully," Gakushuu told him sternly. "Unless you want to go through all of that again?"

Yoshida scoffed. "Like hell." He put on his bag and grabbed the carrier handles. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it."

"I wiped any evidence of your interference from the systems," Ritsu told them, and then sighed. "But there isn't much I can do for the physical damage you left..."

Gakushuu grimaced, wondering how much the staff would tell Shiro. "Shiro isn't the government so I have a feeling he won't take legal action against us, he'll more than likely make his revenge personal."

Itona nodded. "Yeah, he'll probably try to get us killed in collateral."

A lot of them flinched.

"Most likely." Gakushuu sighed, putting away his phone. "Either way, it's possible only rumours will circulate."

"Which will get back to Mr K..." Kurahashi smiled nervously.

"If it does, we're denying everything," Gakushuu said firmly, narrowing his eyes at them. "As far as all of us are concerned. This night didn't happen."

"Right!" They all nodded, some of them shooting him smiles for some bizarre reason.

Gakushuu hummed, hoping he could trust them to not break their silence. "In that case the rest of you should go home."

"Yeah..." Isogai hummed, watching him for a moment. "We should..." He started to smile, placing a hand on his shoulder. "But I think there's one last thing we need to take care of."

Gakushuu raised an eyebrow, wondering what on Earth he was on about.

***

"....And then Okajima decided to stick his head in a trash can, which just caused delays," Gakushuu replied evenly while his father looked through the photo's on his phone in the living room. "The whole night was a disaster from the start."

The Principal stared at the phone with a blank expression. "...So you're saying you and your classmates abandoned your mission and decided to...have a 'snack party' under a bridge with the food you bought from the grocery stores from your stakeout?"

_Why the hell had he let them convince him this was a good alibi?!!_

"Yes," Gakushuu replied calmly, clasping his hands behind his back tight. "It was completely moronic and I highly objected—"

"Yet, you still went along with it?" The Principal raised an eyebrow.

"...Yes." He made sure to maintain eye contact. "I did object at first, of course." _Stay calm._ "But, then I realised it was just less of a headache to go along with it, and you know how insane they all are." He shrugged. "It was...entertaining."

"Entertaining?" The Principal's brow rose higher. "I must say I'm surprised." He looked through the photos. "You sounded so tense on the phone." He looked at him coldly. "I was starting to worry you might have gotten yourself in some trouble."

Gakushuu raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly would that be?"

The Principal stared at him for a long while, like a scorching heat was being applied to his neck. "...I can't really say," he shrugged, giving him back the phone. "After all, if you insist you were just...having fun with your new friends then." He smiled thinly. "Who am I to disagree?"

Gakushuu narrowed his eyes. "Yes, well your paranoia has been acting up lately."

His father chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder. "I suppose." He gripped his shoulder hard, causing Gakushuu to grit his teeth to fight back a wince. "Though it does seem out of character of you..." The nails dug in harder. "And I'd be very disappointed if you were trying to hide something from me like with the Reaper."

"I'm not." He winced, glaring at him from the corner of his eye.

The Principal hummed, staring at him while he was nearly crushing his shoulder. "...Yes, of course not."

Gakushuu tried to jerk away when the man patted his head, hunching his shoulders up until the man moved away. He sighed quietly in relief when his father left to go back to his office.

He rubbed his shoulder and then looked at his phone where it was a photo of Terasaka trying to shove a chocolate bar in his mouth, with the next photo showing himself punching the boy in the face.

They'd seriously took this many photos just to create a paper-thin alibi for him after risking their safety for the mission he'd set them up on...

Gakushuu sighed, slipping the phone in pocket. "Idiots." 


	5. Some things are more important

"...In which we should be able to clear a carrier lift up the mountain if we use the sponsorship money to chop down a majority of the trees," Gakushuu addressed his class brightly when he proposed his School Festival plans.

"UH..." Koro-sensei looked nervous while the rest of the class were gaping.

Gakushuu smirked. "Getting sponsorship shouldn't be too hard, I've already spoken with a number of associates who have expressed an interest, I just need to fine-tune the proposal some more." He ended his slideshow and closed the laptop. "If we make use of the mountain's resources we can efficiently turn it into profit."

Koro-sensei looked like he'd choke. "U-uh, thank you, Asano." He slowly clapped his tentacles, which signalled the others in the class to do so as well. "That was...that was very well presented."

"Can you really get that much sponsorship?" Isogai looked impressed.

Gakushuu shrugged, slipping his laptop under his arm. "I have connections for it so it's just about making the right phone calls."

Koro-sensei cleared his throat, walking back to the front. "Yes, well, as impressive as that is...I think we should try a less...environmentally damaging venture for the festival?"

His eyes narrowed. "What are you implying?"

"That you're a corporate monster in the making," Itona remarked dryly.

"No!" Koro-sensei said quickly, giving a strained laugh when Gakushuu glared. "Though...the damage it would cause to the ecosystem here is important to consider." He patted him on the shoulder. "And we are limited on space."

"Not if we chop down a few trees," Gakushuu replied promptly.

His classmates sighed loudly.

"Asano." Koro-sensei's voice grew firmer. "I really think we need something less...corporate."

"Yeah, it doesn't really fit our vibe anyway." Sugaya shrugged.

"Exactly!" Koro-sensei said, causing Gakushuu to frown.

"If we want to be taken seriously we have to stand out," he told them stubbornly. "Every other class will have their speciality so we need to be bigger and better than all of them combined."

"Which I agree with," Koro-sensei replied lightly. "But better doesn't always mean bigger or flashier, Asano, sometimes you just have to think more outside of the box a little."

Gakushuu's brow furrowed more, considering it. "Well...what would you suggest we do then?"

Koro-sensei chuckled. "Well, first things first is that we do need a speciality!" He reached into his robes."And as for Class E, that value can be obtained..." Koro-sensei held up an acorn. "From something such as this."

"...An acorn?" Isogai asked curiously as Koro-sensei juggled the acorns.

Gakushuu rolled his eyes and stepped back. "What, do you want us to open a nature reserve café?"

Koro-sensei looked amused. "Tempting, but no." H estopped juggling. "Thousands of these little things fall in these mountains," he explained. "there are several kinds of them, but the Japanese Stone Oak is the most suitable for what we're going to do with them because their fruit is big and has few impurities."

Gakushuu frowned when Koro-sensei tossed him the acorn. "So you do want us to use the mountain's resources?"

"Within reason," Koro-sensei cautioned. "Please go pick all the fruits you are able to find," he advised. "Considering your mobility, you should be able to gather more than enough of them from around the mountain in the less than an hour."

Gakushuu hummed, eyeing the acorn curiously while the others in the class started to look excited.

_Hm, interesting._

He was at least curious to see just what kind of idea Koro-sensei wanted them to pull together...

_...And nearly anything could be turned into a profit._

****

"So..." Mr Karasuma crossed his arms while Gakushuu sat opposite him in the teachers' lounge; Bitch-sensei was pretending not to listen as she filed her nails near the window. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about a break-in into a lab facility heavily tied to Shiro?"

Gakushuu's brow rose. "There was a break-in?"

Mr Karasuma sighed, running a hand down his face. "So we're playing it that way..."

Gakushuu shrugged. "I honestly have no idea what you're talking about, sir." He raised an eyebrow. "In case you're forgetting, I'm probably the only sane student here."

The agent's eyes narrowed. "Really?"

"Absolutely."

Mr Karasuma gave a long sigh. "...Well, if it did so happen you were involved, I would be disappointed that you jeopardised your classmates' safety without seeking proper back-up I case things went south."

Gakushuu crossed his arms. "Understandable if I did do it, but as I didn't—"

"Alright." Mr Karasuma shook his head. "It's just something to keep in mind." He shot him a look. "Understand?"

He stared at him for a moment, the agent's gaze unwavering and stern. "...Understood." Gakushuu nodded. "Now may I return to lunch?"

Mr Karasuma sighed, nodding as he re-opened his laptop. "Yes. Thank you for your time."

Gakushuu smiled politely and left the teachers lounge, heading straight outside where some of his classmates had gathered to make plans.

"Oh, hey, Asano," Isogai greeted, sitting on the steps while he walked over. "We were discussing the main explosives we'll need to start building."

Takebayashi was further down the steps, looking at some blueprints while Itona, Maehara, Okuda, and Nakamura were gathered around.

Gakushuu looked the diagram over before pointing to the outer casing of the bomb. "We need to disguise their scene so we should opt for a more bio-based material encasing the pellets."

A big issue would be Koro-sensei's powerful sense of smell, one wrong step and he'd catch on before they even turned on the pressure ray.

"We need to make sure there are no gaps in the direction of the light," Gakushuu told them.

Okuda checked her phone. "Koro-sensei will be back soon from his coconut drinking contest."

"Yeah, we should wrap this up," Maehara stretched. "Hey, you guys wanna revise the plans some more after school?"

"Yeah, if we can cover the school festival plans as well," Okuda proposed.

"Yeah, we should hit the new bubble tea place near the station," Nakamura said, and then smiled sheepishly at Gakushuu. "Uh, you wanna come, Asano, we promise we won't tie you up this time."

Gakushuu scoffed while Isogai looked concerned. "And if I still say no will you knock me out with a dart?"  
"No! Of course not!" Nakamura grinned. "Come on, we can invite everyone else to come, make it a class trip to go over the plans without Koro-sensei eavesdropping."

Gakushuu crossed his arms. "He'll still try to eavesdrop."

Maehara chuckled. "Yeah, probably. So you coming?"

"Or are you still grounded?" Isogai asked.

Gakushuu scowled. "No, I'm not as restricted as before."

But, he still needed to study...He frowned faintly, hesitating.

_It would be fine if it was just an hour, and it would be near the station..._

"Fine." His brow furrowed while the rest of them looked surprised. "I'll attend this gathering..." He cleared his throat. "We still need to go over the plan in more detail so the extra time is needed."

Isogai looked amused. "Right, of course."

****

Gakushuu had only had bubble tea once when it had been Araki's birthday and he'd been forced to attend their group social gathering.

He slurped the mango flavoured drink, enjoying the sweetness, as he sat with his classmates at a booth. The place was large and packed with students from different schools, some of them ordering desserts or just piles of bubble tea with strange combinations of flavour.

Class E had spread out into three booths, with the table he was sitting at being mainly Itona, Kayano, Nagisa, Nakamura, Karma, and Takebayashi.

_It was...nice._

He instantly scowled when the thought came, glaring at Nagisa when the boy smiled at him.

"ASANO!"

Gakushuu nearly jumped when Araki ran over and collapsed at his feet crying.

_...Huh?_

Everyone else in the place looked even more confused, the chatter dying away.

"Finally!" Seo marched over with Koyama in tow. "We've been looking everywhere!"

Ren looked over apologetically.

Gakushuu recovered from his shock and tried to kick Araki away, getting out of the boot to stand up and push him away. "Araki, what are you doing, get a hold of yourself!"

"What are you guys doing?" Maehara stood up along with a lot of the rest of 3-E, growing on guard.

"Asano, you have to come back!" Araki clung onto his legs, large bags under his eyes. "Everything's been a disaster since you left!"

"Get off me!" Gakushuu shoved him away with his foot. "You're embarrassing both of us!

Ren sighed and pulled Araki away. "Araki, calm down! You're freaking everyone out."

"You being in End Class is just a mistake anyway, Seo insisted, looking frustrated. "You need to come back and deal with the Principal."

"What?" Gakushuu's brow furrowed, growing wary. "What are you talking about?"

"Please come back," Koyama looked like he'd start sobbing. "I don't know how much more I can take!"

Gakushuu looked over at 3-E who was staring at the four other boys in alarm, while everyone else in the café was looking at them like they were crazy.

Ren sighed, rubbing his eyes. "How about we talk outside?"

Gakushuu nodded, feeling a pit of dread start to grow in his stomach. "Yes, we should."

Everyone else watched as the five of them headed outside, walking out into the street and around the corner away from the gawking looks.

Araki was trying to regain his dignity and wiping his face, while Seo looked agitated and jumpy, with Koyama not fairing much better as he chewed on his nails and looked around warily. Ren was the only one who actually seemed to be acting normally

Gakushuu felt his dread grow when he saw how much had changed in little over a month. "You all look a mess."

Seo and Araki winced while Koyama looked ready to cry.

Ren sighed. "It's been...difficult."

"The student councils a mess!" Araki cried. "The new president doesn't do any paperwork! It just keeps piling up and we barely get anything done in meetings!"

Gakushuu frowned, knowing his replacement Ryoko did lack good administration skills.

"The Principal keeps increasing our workload," Koyama said nervously, fidgeting. "And he keeps dropping into class with lectures and it's like he's expecting us to do everything!"

"He's already said our plans for the school festival weren't good enough," Seo said, grimacing. "He's expecting us to outrank the high school."

Gakushuu's frown grew. "I see..."

"We're trying our best but he doesn't seem happy with any of it," Araki said, looking sick. "It's like it's not even about getting good grades or being the best anymore, it's just about destroying E Class. It's like he's obsessed!"

An uneasiness crept up Gakushuu's spine, looking away from them when his stomach churned.

"He's saying really weird stuff about 'making sacrifices to win' and we're really worried he's starting to get carried away..." Ren commented grimly.

"Please, Asano, you need to do something," Koyama begged.

Gakushuu's dread grew, tensing up when imagined just what would happen if he did. "...You think he'd listen?" He scowled, narrowing his eyes at them. "He doesn't respect my leadership, he won't listen to me." He clenched his hands tight. "He doesn't even want you speaking to me..."

"So?!" Seo looked desperate. "You have to try! He can't keep putting this workload on us, even the high schoolers don't get this much!"

He looked away, feeling something like guilt start to creep up. "I told you, he's not going to listen to me."

"W-well, if you won't say anything." Koyama's face scrunched up. "Then we will!"

"No," Gakushuu snapped, memories of Kevin, Jose, Sang, and Camiles's beaten up bodies flashed in his vision instantly. "Don't be stupid!"

Koyama flinched and the others appeared alarmed at his tone.

An uncomfortable silence settled between them while a few passers byes shot them curious looks.

Gakushuu sighed, partly turning away from them. "Don't do anything stupid..." He narrowed his eyes at him. "Just...Just do as he says and keep your head down until I can find a solution. If you're careless you'll just make things worse for yourself and everyone else in the class."

"So you'll help?" Seo asked quickly.

Gakushuu stayed silent, growing more unsure. How exactly was he even meant to help? His father wouldn't listen to him. The Principal was stubborn in the knowledge that he was right in everything he did. The man never doubted his educational values...not that he was entirely wrong...though crushing the weak to assert victory started to feel less convincing lately.

His frown grew, thinking of his new classmates and their type of strength which was more adaptable than anything he'd come across. With every misstep in life or the missions they went on, they didn't seem deterred by failure.

"Asano," Seo sounded impatient, refocussing him. "Are you going to help or not!?"

"I..." Gakushuu hesitated, already imagining how disastrous it would be if he even tried to tell the Principal was going too far.

"Forget it!" Seo snarled, glaring at him. "I don't even know why we even bothered. There's a reason you dropped down this far anyway."

Gakushuu clenched his fists tight, narrowing his eyes.

"Hey!" Ren snapped, looking angry, shoving him. "Don't say that!"

"It's true." Seo shoved him back. "The Asano _we knew_ wouldn't stand for this!" He glared at him accusingly. "If you won't stand up for us then the Principal's right, you aren't fit to lead!"

Gakushuu's shoulders tensed up, staring at them like a fly caught in a trap.

"Seo!" Koyama looked angry.

"Fuck off!" Seo stepped back, shaking and staring at Gakushuu like he'd betrayed them. "I don't even know why we bothered."

Ren glared at him. "Just shut up for once, Seo."

Seo glared back at him before marching off without sparing another glance.

Koyama and Araki both exchanged wary looks before glancing at Gakushuu who was refusing to look at them.

Araki sighed and turned away, following the direction Seo had gone with Koyama close after.

Gakushuu dug his nails into his palms when he clenched his fists too tight.

Ren sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Seo's just upset, he doesn't mean any of that."

"We both know that's a lie, Ren," Gakushuu replied coldly, feeling a bile of self-loathing grow in his chest.

Ren rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "Look, don't worry about us, we'll be fine. It's not as bad as they're making out."

_Now, who was lying?_

Gakushuu sighed. "The Principal won't listen to me, Ren. Talking to him would just make things worse."

Ren stayed quiet for a while before removing his hand. "If you say so..."

"Just don't aggravate the Principal." He avoided his gaze. "I'll...I'll try to think of something. Just don't do anything stupid, alright?"

Ren nodded. "Okay, I'll try to keep them in check."

Gakushuu sighed, unable to shake his dread when he imagined things only getting worse.

****

So far the whole festival event was a disaster.

Gakushuu nearly snapped his clipboard in two.

They'd barely made enough yen to pay for the menu print outs!!!

He growled, gritting his teeth while his classmates watched him from the sidelines.

"Calm down, Asano," Isogai reassured. "I'm sure we'll get custom—"

"Isogai, if I hear one more infuriating optimistic thing from your mouth I'll stuff the acorns down your windpipe," Gakushuu warned darkly.

"Um..." Isogai looked shocked. "Well..."

"Someone's cranky." Nakamura smirked, leaning against the window as they waited near the entrance for more customers.

"It's been a whole day and we've hardly had anything," Gakushuu said bitterly, glaring up at Koro-sensei who was disguised as a fish. "The most profit we got was from those delinquents and those little brats from that pre-school."

Nagisa frowned."Uh, it wasn't exactly a pre—"

"If we don't turn over enough profit will end up dead last," Gakushuu exclaimed.

"We still have time to catch up," Kanzaki said frowning still.

"Yeah, and from what Itona's found out 3-A's only doing slightly better than the high school," Sugino commented.

Gakushuu frowned, wondering how different things might be if he was the one leading A-Class in the festival...

"Aw, don't worry, Asano." Kurahashi smiled warily and offered him a bowl of their noodles. "We'll get customers. Everyone says the food is great so we just have to be patient."

He scowled, taking the noodles because they were undoubtedly delicious. "Hm." He calmed down when he ate. "Fine. Let's just give it more time." His scowl grew as he slurped his noodles. "But it would have to be a miracle to get us in the lead by this rate."

***

The miracle that came was a boy called Yujii who was under the impression Nagisa was a girl, in which Karma and Nakamura decided to 'pimp' Nagisa out to turnover profit.

Gakushuu buried his face in his palm in despair. "...I hate this class."

Nakamura and Karma grinned while Nagisa looked dead inside.

"Well, he gave us a good review," Fuwa said brightly after they'd all looked at the blog page on the website which had resulted in the massive line of customers and news crew.

"Yeah, but are we gonna have enough food to serve them?" Nagisa questioned.

"Hey!" Muramatsu peaked his head around the classroom. "Stop lazing around and help! The customers are starting to complain!"

Gakushuu grimaced, straightening up. "Right, everyone get in position, if we're going to catch-up and win this, we need to pull overtime!"

Nakamura grinned, already putting her apron back on. "Let's get to it!"

***

They were rushed off their feet with an onslaught of customers, running back and forth constantly with barely a break.

Gakushuu smiled when he checked the books with Takebayashi. "We actually might outrank the high school if we keep going."

Takebayashi looked overwhelmed at the stack of money. "Are we even going to be able to manage?"

"Of course," Gakushuu replied confidently. "We just need to pull more overtime!"

"This is bad!" Okuda was panicked, showing the box of nearly empty noodles, interrupting them. "We're almost out of noodles!"

_Already?!_

Gakushuu frowned. "How fast can we get more?"

Okano and Kimura were covered in mud and panting for breath.

"We can keep getting more ingredients if we just go farther on the mountain," Kimura said.

"Hhmm.." Koro-sensei was disguised as an acorn on a desk. "No, let's not." He made a cross with his tentacles. "I think it would be best if we don't make any more moves here."

"What?!" Gakushuu looked at him in alarm. "What are you talking about, we're winning!"

Nagisa looked surprised. "If we finish early—then we'll lose!"

"That's all right," Koro-sensei said. "If we take any more food, we might disrupt the mountain's ecosystem."

Gakushuu felt his temper flare. "It wouldn't be that big of a disruption," he tried to argue. "We can just compartmentalise the resources a little more—"

"Asano." Koro-sensei sighed. "Birds, plants, fish, fungi, arthropods, mammals." The octopus listed off. "Everything done by a living thing becomes a blessing in destiny." He stood up from his hiding spot and made a curve with his tentacles. "During this festival, were you all able to feel just how greatly this mountain's destiny blessed you?"

"No," Gakushuu remarked dryly, earning a hard pinch from Kurahashi while she smiled serenely. "Ow."

"People who've taught you. People you've helped. People you've caused problems for. People who caused problems for you," Koro-sensei continued. "People you've fought as rivals." He looked at Gakushuu and patted him on the head. "And who've ended up becoming the unlikeliest of friends."

Gakushuu glared at him, feeling his cheeks heat up.

Okano smiled. "Figures." She rubbed the back of her neck. "Looks like his goal today was to teach again..."

"Man..." Muramatsu smiled grimly. "I really wanted to win though..."

"This is ridiculous," Gakushuu said stubbornly while his classmates sighed. "We can win this, we can't just give up!"

His skin prickled unpleasantly at the thought of admitting defeat so early.

"But it's the right thing to, Asano," Yada said, frowning. "Winning isn't worth it if we ruin everything on the mountain."

Gakushuu gritted his teeth, feeling something nag at him when he thought about the whole mountain being stripped bare...

_But, if they didn't win..._

He stiffened, feeling cold. "Some sacrifices had to be made to pave the road to victory," he said lowly, earning some alarmed looks. "No matter what the cost."

An uncomfortable silence settled between them all when it became glaringly transparent that they disagreed.

Gakushuu turned away from them and tossed the clipboard to the side.

****

"Ah, there you are!"

Gakushuu scowled when Koro-sensei's cheery voice interrupted where he was sat brooding by the river. "What do you want?"

Koro-sensei came and sat next to him. "I understand why you're upset—"

"I'm not upset," he snapped and then sneered. "We could have won..."

Koro-sensei hummed. "Most likely..." He paused for a moment, the low sun casting deep oranges on the grass and trees. "I know my teachings are quite different from the ones you're used to."

Gakushuu glowered at the ground. "I wasn't taught to lose so easily."

The octopus chuckled gently. "Yes, I suppose not." He looked at him. "Let me ask you then, was Mr Karasuma wrong to not sacrifice you children when the Reaper had you captured?"

"What?" he frowned when he looked up.

"The Reaper said it himself, it was the perfect opportunity to have me killed," Koro-sensei continued. "All that needed to be done was sacrifice you and your classmates in the process, so was Mr Karasuma wrong to not make that sacrifice?"

Gakushuu grimaced, knowing he was cornered. "...No."

Koro-sensei nodded, resting a tentacle on his head. "Some things are more important than winning, Asano."

His stomach twisted when he remembered Ren saying something similar.

He narrowed his eyes at his teacher. "Okay, fine, you've made your point!"

"Good." Koro-sensei giggled, patting him on the head before removing his tentacle. "Besides, I think there's something we were rewarded more than victory today."

"If you say friendship and an appreciation for the environment, I will shoot you here and now." Gakushuu took out his gun warningly.

The octopus just laughed. "Well, those are important points too, but I was referring more to respect for one another," he said, earning a confused look. "We served a large variety of customers today, different people, who have all influenced one another whether they realised or not." He picked up an orange leaf. "I think you'll agree a lot has changed, and still are changing too."

Gakushuu watched him curiously, remembering his battles against his classmates back when they were on opposing sides. "I suppose..." Then he stiffened in horror. "But it's not like we're friends or anything." He stood up quickly. "Don't start getting ideas that I actually enjoy spending time with all you idiots."

Koro-sensei chuckled, turning sly "That's not what I've been hearing, in fact, I think you've gone a little soft--"

Gakushuu started shooting at him but the octopus just cackled and dodged.

***

Third place wasn't....terrible.

Gakushuu scowled as he walked home, the sun setting behind him.

The Class A in the High School had ranked first place, with 3-A from the Middle School coming second with 3-E close behind.

Considering their disadvantage and delay in getting customers it was...impressive.

Gakushuu nearly smiled. "They actually outdid my expectations..." He smirked, growing amused.

Then his phone rang.

He frowned when he realised it was his burner phone and from an anonymous number. "Hello?"

"Oh my gosh, Asano!" It was his old classmate, Kanada, she sounded distressed. "I'm sorry, I-I know I'm not allowed to call unless it's an emergency b-but..."

His frown grew. "Kanada?" He paused near a lamppost, growing uneasy. "Has something happened?"

She started sobbing, causing him to grow more on edge. "It's Ren and the others—something happened and we don't know what but they're not acting right!"

Gakushuu froze, feeling cold. "What...what are you talking about?"

"The Principal wanted t-to talk to them after the festival," she blubbered, causing his hand to shake. "And when they got back—it's really scary and we don't know what's wrong!"

He felt like he'd been punched in the gut, staring ahead in shock while Kanada kept talking even though he wasn't listening anymore.

What did he do?

"Asano, are you still there—?"

Gakushuu hung up, gripping the phone so tight it might crack.

***

"What did you do to them?!"

The Principal raised an eyebrow, standing in the doorway still after just getting back.

"A polite greeting is more appropriate," his father replied evenly, removing his shoes as he stepped into the house, placing his suitcase on the side.

Gakushuu gritted his teeth, his gaze darkening as the anger mounted up. "What did you do to my _friends_?" he repeated coldly.

The Principal paused, keeping his back to him as he hung up his jacket.

"I seem to recall you remarking they barely qualified as colleagues at one point."

Gakushuu cringed, remembering the comment. "That was then..." He clenched his fists tighter, staying on guard as he walked over. "Now, I'll ask again, what did you do to Ren and the others?"

His father turned around and smiled thinly. "I educated them," he replied lightly. "I overestimated Class A's resolve, they lack focus." He walked passed him, heading to the kitchen.

Gakushuu's eyes widened in horror, already thinking of the worst possible outcomes. "If you hurt them—"

"And why would I do that?" His father said flippantly, walking into the kitchen and opening the fridge.

He glared at him darkly. "You know why..."

The Principal paused near the fridge, regarding him for a moment. "That was a lesson for you, Asano." His gaze was cold. "Every lesson is for a reason, you know that."

Gakushuu swallowed when he felt some vomit threaten to come up. "Just...stop." It felt like he was losing his mind. "They haven't done anything wrong."

His father sighed and closed the fridge. "Everything I am doing is to clean up after your failure, son," he said lightly, causing him to feel his guilt come back. "Your classmates were a mess, vulnerable. Without my assistance they would have crumbled by now," He stood in front of him. "If they are going to keep their position and dominate the top spots, they have to be ready."

"Whatever you've done, isn't teaching," Gakushuu replied coldly, glaring back at him. "You're going to break them."

"If they're that easily broken then you failed to shape them into the strong." The Principal sighed, looking away dismissively. "Considering how much you've lost your edge, I don't expect you to understand—"

Gakushuu's jaw tightened when his father kept talking, ignoring him like he was a child and not the only one speaking sense. His head started pounding like a furnace overheating when he imagined how much worse things were now Ren and everyone else was going to suffer because he hadn't been the leader they'd needed and been coward enough to abandon them—

"IT'S BULLSHIT!!" Gakushuu exploded, feeling like his head would crack, as something ticked across his father's expression. "The system doesn't work, none of it does! It's bullshit—"

" _Asano."_ The Principal voice was rigid, like a coil getting tighter.

He carried on like he was racing through fire. "It doesn't matter if you crush Class E it isn't going to make Class A stronger, it isn't going to fix anything—!"

"That's _enough,"_ his father snapped, causing Gakushuu to jerk back at the tone. "You're being hysterical." Something dark leaked out through the cracks. "You're becoming _delusional."_

_Delusional..._

The Principal thought...

His father had the audacity to think _he_ was the mentally unstable one here?!

Gakushuu's gaze sparked with outrage. "You think _I'm_ being delusional?!" His voice shook, and the anger boiled over. "The only delusional one here is the person who thinks _Ikeda didn't get off lucky jumping from that bridge!_ "

He saw a red-hot rage fill his father's gaze for that brief second before he was backhanded.

Gakushuu's head hit the wall that was too close and barely gave him enough time to brace for the hit.

The sharp pain to his head clouded up his thoughts like a mist as he hit the kitchen tiles.

His father's voice was foggy and far away.

***

Gakushuu closed his eyes tight when his head kept pounding, a ringing in his ear briefly as the noises around him were muffled and mixing together.

The bruise on his face would be fine, if not inconvenient, but he had a strong feeling he had some kind of concussion since everything was blurry and he felt nauseous.

"Son, can you hear me?"

"Ugh..." He rested his head on the kitchen table, hearing the sounds started to become clearer. "What?"

"Good." There was a sigh of relief.

A hand brushed some hair out of his eyes, confusing him more

"I apologise for my reaction." The Principal was speaking, pressing an ice-pack to his head. "...It was uncalled for." The coldness from the ice-pack stung his head. "It won't happen again."

Gakushuu winced when the ice was pressed down further and held there while the Principal pulled up a seat.

"I know this year has been unprecedented." He was struggling to focus on what his father was saying. "E Class has been...interfering and disturbing everything this school stands for."

Gakushuu grimaced, forcing himself to sit up properly when his vision started to clear up. He took the icepack and held it against his head, leaning more on the table. "Ugh..."

The Principal took a glass from the other side of the table full of fizzy water. "Drink this."

Gakushuu hunched his shoulders, growing uncomfortable as he stared at the pain medication in the water, his earlier feelings of dread returning as he drank the water; he hated the taste of it.

"I understand that you might have lost sight of the bigger picture after your failure." The Principal sighed. "But I haven't lost faith in you, son. I know you can be strong, you've just lost the drive to win." The grip on his head was gentle. "The same applies to your old classmates. They've forgotten what it means to fear losing everything."

He gripped the glass of water tight, feeling his earlier anger mix into his confusion like a haze.

"They aren't like you, son." The Principal stroked his head like he was an injured dog. "They don't know what it means to fall so far and then have to crawl their way back up. They don't have your conviction." He sighed. "I know I neglected to keep a closer eye on you before midterms. I let you slip, which is why I've been trying to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Gakushuu's stomach twisted, growing nauseous again as he drank the pain medication.

"But, this setback, is only temporary," his father continued. "I know you're going to reclaim your top spot at finals and leave 3-E behind."

He nearly winced, keeping his gaze low.

_He's not to going to listen to me._

"I know you can have a bright future ahead of you," his father's voice was quiet. "And I want to help you become the strong young man you were born to be. We just need to smooth out the edges which are holding you back, so you'll be _perfect."_

Gakushuu glanced at him from the corner of his eye warily _._

He wasn't sure he liked the Principal's view of what _perfect_ was anymore.

His father was staring at him. "I know you want that too, son."

Gakushuu felt like he was being boxed in again.

_Get out._

He shifted the ice to his bruised cheek when it started to sting, looking over at the door.

"...Asano?"

_Get out!_

His hand shook slightly as he placed the water down again. "...Yes," he finally spoke, not looking at his father. "I want that." His mouth still felt dry despite drinking the water. "I want to be strong."

"I know." The Principal sighed, placing a hand on his shoulder. "There's only just over two weeks until finals," he told him, looking down at him intently. "I think it best you study from home while I tend to Class A during that time."

Home...study...?

"You don't want me to go to school?" he repeated slowly, feeling his skin crawl, hoping he'd misunderstood.

"If there's anything you don't understand, I can bring you back up to speed," the Principal replied lightly. "I need you to focus all your strength into winning." His father squeezed his shoulder. "With no distractions."

The thought of that made him nauseous again.

A part of him wondered if his father really wanted him to stay at home to study, or because he didn't want everyone else seeing the large bruised cut blotching his left cheek.

A few seconds passed until Gakushuu nodded. "Yes. Of course, I understand..."

There was a long pause as the Principal stared at him, and then hesitantly smoothed some hair out of his son’s face. "I expect you'll need some rest for a bit." He stood up. "There are some practice sheets I want us to review later. Let me know if you need more painkillers."

"Yes..." Gakushuu stood up, steadying himself on the table when his legs wobbled a bit. "I'll be fine." He took the ice-pack and started to walk out of the kitchen, forcing himself to stay calm as he walked upstairs to his room.

The house was silent as he got to his room and closed the door behind him, before dragging his chair to block the handle so it wouldn't open.

The minute he did he let out a long sigh, breathing heavily.

There was no way in hell he was staying locked up in this house for two weeks completely isolated from his classmates while his friends were being brainwashed.

He moved to the compartment under the drawer and gathered the contents in his arms and onto his bed, quickly counting the cash before he took out a backpack from under the mattress.

 _It would just be until finals were over,_ he told himself. Quickly packing the bag with essential clothes.

His father would have hopefully come to his senses by then.

Gakushuu packed his uniform and then slipped on the combat gear as quietly as possible, packing the weapons in the side.

He took a picture of the bruise on his burner phone in case the Principal tried to kick up a fuss and get the police involved in returning him home.

The backpack was full within five minutes, while his hands were still shaking.

The injuries themselves weren't a big deal. _It was fine._ The bruise didn't even hurt. Nothing was broken. _It was fine._ It could have been worse.

But, the way the Principal had been speaking...it didn't sound right.

Gakushuu still hesitated, hen he looked at the shelf of trophies, staring at a photo of him and his father at the chess tournament he'd won when he was six...his father had seemed proud that day. He gripped the frame tight, nearly breaking the glass.

This was only temporary...if his father lost and just...and just realised that he was being delusional and obsessive, then things might...they could get better. 

They just needed a break, he told himself trying to push away the guilt and fear which was mixing in.

He took the photo out of the frame and folded it into his pocket before climbing out of the window.


	6. All he had to do was win

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Woah, it's been a week and it's nealy over! This is what happens when you get a little obsessed over an idea XD. I'm also kind of scared of how many words this story is...

When Itona opened the front door to the wall apartment he was eating peanut butter from a jar. He looked Gakushuu up and down before resting his gaze on his face; blank expression unchanging.

The two stared at each other for a solid minute while Gakushuu resisted the urge to shift on the spot. "...If I'm inconveniencing you, I can leave." He held his head high. "I have found myself in a situation—"

"I'm not sharing a Futon." Itona rolled his eyes and stepped aside to let him in. "You're going to have to sleep on the floor."

Gakushuu was caught off guard. "...I see."

Itona rolled his eyes and walked inside. "You're letting the heat out."

Gakushuu was surprised slightly but then quickly went inside.

Itona's apartment was bare, and all one-room, not counting the toilet and washroom which were separate. The living room and sleeping area were all in one with Itona's futon and frightening supply of dried noodles and snack piled up in crates.

But while it wasn't exactly the luxury he'd grown accustomed too, Itona did live alone, which meant fewer questions and the Principal was less likely to find him.

Out of his classmates, Itona was the most preferable company he would choose as a 'roommate', he was reserved and entertaining in his sharp remarked.

"Here." Itona tossed him a first aid kit.

Gakushuu caught it and absently touched the mark on his cheek. "...Thank you."

Itona hummed, eating some more peanut butter as he sat down on the futon. "...Does he know you left?"

"Not yet." Gakushuu took out a large bandage and some disinfectant for the cut. The damaged cheek was swelling up again, feeling uncomfortable. "I won't stay long—"

"Just shut up." Itona rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he tossed a cushion over. "You're still sleeping on the floor though."

***

Gakushuu sighed as he ate some instant noodles for breakfast, already dressed or school while Itona was still showering in the washroom.

His classmate didn't get up late, but it was still later than he was used to. The apartment was also messier than what he was used to since Itona was slack on the dusting and making sure the windows were crystal clear.

Normally Ren would have been his first choice to live with, but since that was no longer an option right now...

Something painful nipped in his stomach.

Would Ren even still be his friend after all of this? Or was whatever the Principal had done become permanent?

Gakushuu dug his chopsticks into the noodles broodingly.

He checked his burner phone, wondering how the Principal had reacted to him leaving... his stomach twisted. Maybe he should have left a note, a way to explain his actions.

Running away was a coward's route, his father had reiterated that well enough over the years. A leader who couldn't fight their battles and stand their ground was weak.

Gakushuu grimaced, gripping his phone tight. He'd only planned to do this in an emergency, and he did only have enough cash to last him for 6 weeks.

He touched the bandage on his cheek, frowning. Had he made things worse for Class A by leaving, they'd be the first group the Principal would take his anger on, especially if he thought any of them were helping him.

His thoughts flashed to Kevin coughing up blood on the office floor as the Principal kicked him in the stomach while Gakushuu had cowered in the corner and watched.

He lost his appetite and moved the noodles to the side, growing sick

Itona interrupted his thoughts when he came out of the washroom casually just wearing boxers with a towel over his shoulder. "Hey."

Gakushuu baulked. "Put some clothes on!" he snapped, looking away.

Itona ignored him and walked passed him to a trunk of clothes in the corner. "It's my house."

He scowled, glaring at the ground while the boy casually got changed. "Technically it's an apartment!" He sighed, second-guessing if this had been a good idea. "Look, I've been thinking—"

"So you're gonna go crawling back to your dad?" Itona said coldly.

Gakushuu tensed, looking up. "No..."

Itona sighed, slipping his red turtleneck on and trousers before sitting down opposite him. "If you go back now then you're an idiot."

Gakushuu grimaced. "...He has control over my friends. I could be making things worse by staying away."

"And you think going back and being a punching bag will help?" Itona asked bluntly.

"It isn't like that," he replied, grimacing, touching his face. "They're the ones who will suffer more. That's how it always goes..."

Itona's eyes narrowed warily. "...Still stupid to go back."

Gakushuu sighed, knowing he was right. "I suppose it would be..."

His father would still need another day or two to calm down...

"The others won't let you go back anyway." Itona started putting on his socks. "They'll just kidnap you again if you try."

Gakushuu scowled. "As if I'd let them."

Itona raised an eyebrow, grabbing his boots. "Good luck holding them off."

***

The first thing that surprised Gakushuu was how murderous his classmates looked while gathered around his desk that morning.

"Fucking bastard," Terasaka snarled.

"What the hell is wrong with him!?" Okano looked angry. "He seriously thinks he can just get away with this!?"

"Have you called the police?!" Kanzaki seemed upset.

It was a bit of an overreaction.

Gakushuu sighed, taking out his homework he'd managed to get finished at Itona's this morning. "It's fine, there's no further damage—"

"That's not the point, Asano!" Nakamura snapped, crossing her arms. "He can't just get away with this."

Nagisa grimaced, nodding meekly. "He shouldn't have hit you..."

"No, he shouldn't have." Koro-sensei's voice was soft, causing them to look over as he walked in. 

Gakushuu sighed, staring at his desk. "Yes, well, I just need a break from him for a while." His hands clenched into fists. "He's taken over Class A, and from what I've heard, he's being ruthless in his education."

His classmates exchanged wary looks while Koro-sensei hummed.

"He's completely lost it," Gakushuu murmured. "He's obsessed and refuses to listen to reason..."

"Then we'll need to make him listen." Koro-sensei placed a tentacle on his head, and for once, Gakushuu found the gesture comforting. "Together."

"...We need to destroy his education philosophy," Gakushuu said, looking up. "We need to dominate the top spots and defeat him completely so he can learn from his failure. That's the only way he'll learn."

Koro-sensei looked like he was proud. "My thoughts exactly, my dear boy." He gave him a head pat and then turned to the rest of the class. "This will be your final academic battle, children. This is the moment to show everyone just how far you've come!"

His classmates started to smile, something about the mood seeming hopeful.

The corner of Gakushuu's lip twitched upward slightly as he felt—

"Which means I'm getting the top spot!" Karma cut in brightly.

Gakushuu's mood soured instantly. "Excuse me?"

Karma grinned like a demon, leaning on his desk. "You may have flunked midterms but that doesn't mean you get off easy." His gaze was fierce. "Now that you're taking this seriously, I'm gonna beat you, Mr Perfect." He flashed him a sharp smile while Gakushuu looked annoyed. "But don't worry, you'll look good in second place _under me_."

Koro-sensei and their classmates choked in the background.

Gakushuu snarled, clenching his fists tight. "If you think that, then you're even more of an idiot than I thought." He stood up, sparks flying dangerously as their rivalry intensified. "You only won midterms by a fluke, and after finals, you'll be the lapdog." He smirked, growing sadistic. "If you're lucky I'll let you carry my books in-between classes so you can feel significant."

Karma's grin widened, eyes practically red. "I'll consider that when you're busy testing my spices for lunch—"

"Boys!" Koro-sensei quickly shoved them apart. "Please. You're still classmates. Let's keep things friendly."

Karma smiled sharply. "We are keeping it friendly, Sensei," he said brightly, while Gakushuu watched him darkly. "Asano-chan and I—

Gakushuu bristled. "Don't call me that!"

"—are just motivating each other!" Karma finished, looking like a demon.

"With what? Sadism?!" Mimura yelled.

Koro-sensei sighed. "...While rivalries can be good, we can't let it divide us as a class."

Karma's smile faded a little. "Well, duh, I'm not gonna do that." He glanced at Gakushuu. "We're rivals, not enemies."

Gakushuu tensed a bit, unsure how to respond at the flippant declaration. "Yes, well..." He cleared his throat. "We all know I'm the clear victor here."

Karma smirked. "We'll see."

Koro-sensei shook his head, starting to look amused. "You two are brilliant." He patted them both on the head. "So I want you to channel that rivalry into doing your best, and having fun."

Gakushuu rolled his eyes while Karma grinned.

The rest of their classmates were smiling.

"Hell yeah, we're gonna show those main campus jerks what we're made of," Okajima exclaimed.

Maehara grinned. "Yeah, we've got Karma and Asano as top scorers now!"

Okano looked excited. "It's a full arsenal!"

"Exactly!" Koro-sensei clapped his tentacles, pulling most of them close. "It will be a battle like no other!"

Gakushuu smiled crookedly, growing amused by their excitement.

"Seriously, though," Karma said lowly while the others were distracted and becoming more excited.

"Yes?" He narrowed his gaze warily.

Karma looked at him sternly. "If you overwork yourself and burnout before we even compete, I'll be pissed," he said firmly. "So you better be at the top of your game come finals." He smirked and made a slicing motion near his throat as Gakushuu's eyes widened. "Just come at me like you're wanna kill me, m'kay?"

Gakushuu stared at him for a moment, and then smirked, feeling a bubble of excitement at the outright audacity of the challenge. "Trust me, that won't be hard."

***

The rest of the school day was normal, or as normal as things went around here.

Gakushuu tried not to think about the Principal and focussed on the lessons as Koro-sensei stepped up his game for finals. There was still much to do and the assassination plot needed finalising before the end of November, less he wanted 'anti-social loner boy' to be on his permanent record.

He grimaced at the thought of it, fiddling with his anti-sensei knife as he eyed the octopus at the front of the classroom.

Thoughts of killing his teacher distracted him from his father successfully until the day came to a close and Mr Karasuma stopped him from leaving the classroom.

"The Principal's in teachers' lounge," the agent sounded grim. "He wants to speak with you."

Gakushuu stiffened, gripping his bag tight while his remaining classmates, Nagisa, Itona, Kayano, Fuwa, Karma, and Sugino looked over warily.

"He wouldn't take no for an answer." Mr Karasuma sighed. "If you don't want to see him, tell me now and I'll keep him busy while you get out." His gaze grew stern while Gakushuu looked surprised. "I can also call make some calls if need be."

Gakushuu grimaced. "No." He sighed. "I'll talk to him."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?!" Kayano asked.

"Yeah, you don't have to," Nagisa said, frowning.

Karma tilted his head. "Just tell the prick to shove it and go."

Gakushuu sighed again, holding his head high. "Avoiding him will just make things worse..." He looked back at Mr Karasuma. "But I don't want to go home with him."

"And you won't." Mr Karasuma placed a hand on his shoulder. "If he tries to I'll escort him off the property, even if he owns it. I've already explained this to him."

"Seriously?!" His classmates were shocked.

Gakushuu nearly choked. "What?"

  
He tried to imagine his father's reaction to that.

Mr Karasuma nodded. "Yes. I'm still your teacher, if I suspect domestic violence, I have to investigate it."

Gakushuu felt a strange warmth in his chest, feeling embarrassed. "I...appreciate that, sir."

His PE teacher nodded. "I'll be in the room with you and the octopus won't be far."

Gakushuu nodded, glancing over his shoulder at Itona. "You can go on ahead. This may take long..."

Itona hummed, frowning faintly. "...I'll just wait outside."

"Alright." Gakushuu nodded and then turned back to Mr Karasuma, feeling his gut twist as he following him down the hallway to the teachers' lounge. His teacher squeezed his shoulder reassuringly as he slid the door open.

The Principal stood in the teachers' lounge and smiled politely when he saw him. "Ah, Asano, what a relief."

Gakushuu hunched his shoulders up, staying by the door. "...Sir."

"Thank you, Mr Karasuma," the Principal said lightly. "You can leave us now—"

"I'll be staying," Mr Karasuma's expression was passive, keeping a hand on Gakushuu's shoulder. "Given the circumstances, I think it best I stay." The smile on the Principal's face tightened. "Asano has made it clear that he doesn't wish to return home yet."

"Really?" The smile thinned to something barely calm. "Well, I still do require a talk with my son with some level of privacy, Mr Karasuma," he said lightly. "And this is still _my_ school."

"I would like him to stay," Gakushuu said coldly, meeting his father's look.

There was a pause while the Principal stared at them with a carefully controlled expression. "Of course. Mr Karasuma is welcomed to stay then.

"I'll just be working at my desk," Mr Karasuma said, glancing at Gakushuu before he walked over to the desk near the corner. "Please, continue."

The Principal's smile wavered briefly. "Yes." He looked at Gakushuu. "I trust you're staying somewhere secure? There are some dangerous neighbourhoods you should avoid."

"...Yes," Gakushuu replied stiffly, staying near the door while Mr Karasuma started typing on his laptop. "I'm somewhere safe."

"Good."

There was another stretch of silence after that.

"I can understand why after last night you'd wish for some space," The Principal said calmly, taking a step towards him.

Gakushuu narrowed his eyes. "Really?"

His father sighed, clasping his hands behind his back. "Nevertheless, we need to put it behind us," he said evenly, while Gakushuu's glare grew. "Your final exams will be due, and you need to focus on pouring all your strength into winning. You know that."

Gakushuu tensed a little, his glare wavering. "Yes, I'm aware, and I will be." He grimaced. "Just not under your _guidance_."

Something impatient twitched across his father's face. "You're being childish."

"I'm being practical," he shot back. "Your methods don't work so why the hell would—?"

"Watch your tone!" his father warned, narrowing his eyes.

Gakushuu tensed, closing his mouth instantly.

Mr Karasuma stopped typing from his laptop, reminding them of his presence.

Gakushuu took a deep breath and composed himself while the Principal did the same.

Mr Karasuma went back to typing.

"...Why would I continue under your teaching when it clearly doesn't work?" Gakushuu spoke calmly, looking the man in the eye as he saw something like anger threaten to leak out. " _Sir?"_

The Principal sealed the crack in his composure quickly. "I understand you're at that age where you want to test boundaries," he said lightly, expression passive. "Where you think you're right and know everything you need to know about the world—"

"Considering you taught me how to do taxes at ten, I think I'm more than capable," Gakushuu responded coldly.

His father placed a hand on his shoulder warningly. "But you still have a lot to learn," he said coldly. "Your actions are still impulsive and that of a child." The man's eyes narrowed. "Or do you have a practical plan on how you'll support yourself for the next three years?"

Gakushuu's gut twisted, feeling his composer crack slightly.

He'd planned for years to runaway if necessary, and only if absolutely necessary, but trying to lay firm foundations had been difficult with his father breathing down his neck and clawing to access every corner of his private life.

Scholarships he expected he would be able to acquire easily, but he wouldn't be allowed to work while in a top grade High School and unless he escaped to another location he doubted his father would stop trying to get him back. He could invest in some stocks but that would take time...

There was always emancipation but...his stomach twisted more, looking away from his father. Did he actually want that? It had always been the two of them. His father was all the family he had, or at least the only one that cared about him enough since his mother's side liked to pretend he didn't even exist...

His father sighed when Gakushuu hesitated. "Regardless of everything, we are still a family." He looked at him pointedly. "You are under my care," he reminded him. "No matter how much you resent or hate me, it won't stop me from doing what's necessary for your future." He squeezed his shoulder. "I've raised you into the young man you are today and will continue to do so until you are ready to graduate from my teaching."

Gakushuu felt a weight pressing on his shoulders, growing conflicted. The person he was today was because of the Principal's guidance. Every competition, every test, every punishment, every lesson had shaped him into the leader his friends and classmates respected.

"...I am grateful," he replied quietly, feeling guilt mix in. "I know you're doing what you think is best..."

His father had raised him all alone and was just trying to groom him into a leader strong enough to dominate the world and surpass his teachers.

"Then come home so I can finish shaping you into the leader you were born to be." His father placed a hand on his head, massaging the bruise on his scalp as if remorseful. "What happened last night won't happen again." He grimaced. "When you mentioned Ikeda, I acted out of anger."

Gakushuu looked up and felt a tiny nag of doubt eat at him like maggots. If he hadn't mentioned Ikeda then he wouldn't have pushed the Principal to lash out, he reminded himself. That had been a low blow ripping the trauma open. He'd wanted a reaction.

He felt a rise of shame. "I apologise for my remark," he said stiffly, knowing that part was his fault. "It was disrespectful to him."

His father touched the bandage on his face, unsettling him. "We both said and did things that were uncalled for."

Gakushuu shifted his gaze away, growing uneasy as last night's events started to replay differently.

If he hadn't lost his temper and had remained calm, maybe his father would have listened and they wouldn't be in this mess. If he'd not gotten emotional and spiteful, then his father wouldn't have hit him.

" _Son_." His father smiled almost warmly, calling him 'son' fondly as he had when he'd been younger and when things had been less of a mess. "Running away isn't the answer here." His father rested a hand behind his head. "You know that."

"I..." Gakushuu's brow furrowed, looking away apprehensively, letting his father pull him closer.

His father squeezed his shoulder. "We should talk at home."

He looked down, considering it as he started to nod slowly the more everything the Principal was saying started to make sense, doubting himself like dark clouds were creeping in.

Maybe leaving hadn't been the right choice. If he went home now, maybe the Principal would listen this time. Maybe his father would undo what he'd done to his friends and calm down. Maybe things would—

"Asano." Mr Karasuma cleared his throat, snapping Gakushuu out of his thoughts like pulling him out of a haze.

He looked over at Mr Karasuma who was staring at him silently, something passing between his gaze as Gakushuu started to realise what was happening, as if chains were about to be latched on.

"Son?" The softness had left his father's gaze, staring at him as the fingers on the back of his head dug in like hooks.

_Get out!_

Gakushuu grew on guard again, staring up at him warily, starting to feel trapped. "No." He stepped back quickly. "No!" he said firmer, narrowing his eyes. "I'm not coming home. Not until things are different!"

The Principal's gaze darkened. "Asano—"

"I'll make a deal," Gakushuu interrupted, knowing there was only one way out of this. "If my class wins, if I get back in the top 50. Then you have to stop interfering," he said firmly, balling his hands into fists. "You have to _listen_ to me and acknowledge my strength."

"Enough of this," The Principal tried to argue. "This isn't the time for—"

"Unless you want _this_ ," Gakushuu pointed at his bandaged cheek. "To be all over social media and the poster on your next award's ceremony, you'll agree."

His father froze, jaw clenching tight as the two of them glared at each other, the tension returning tenfold. "...And if you lose?"

Gakushuu grimaced. "...I'll come home willingly."

His father stayed quiet, staring at him intently as something started to crack. "I'll only consider it a win if you get the top spot," he told him coldly, taking a step forward while Gakushuu watched him cautiously. "And if your classmates do not get into the top 50 as you said, then you lose," he continued. "And _when_ you lose." His voice lowered, sending a chill down his spine. "Not only will you come home and concede. You'll allow me to educate you under whatever methods I deem fit to make you strong." Something unstable and frightening shone in his gaze. "And you will _never_ run awayfrom home again."

Gakushuu swallowed a lump in his throat, not looking away from his father.

"That's enough." Mr Karasuma stood up, narrowing his gaze warningly at The Principal, but father and son ignored him, staring at each other intently. "I think you need to leave, sir—"

"I agree to your terms," Gakushuu said, squaring his shoulders.

The Principal nodded. "Then may the best class win," he said coldly, clasping his hands behind his back as he walked passed. "I'll make sure Erina keeps your room clean until you return. You'll have a lot to catch up on."

He bit his tongue to hold back his remark as his father finally turned to leave.

Gakushuu let out a deep breath, feeling nauseous.

Mr Karasuma stood up and walked over. "Everything okay?"

He nodded, turning away from him. "Yes. It's fine."

 _It was fine._ All he had to do was win.

***

Studying for finals and plotting to kill their teacher went surprisingly hand in hand as usual.

Only now his classmates had decided to make it their personal mission to bother him when possible. They kept coming to Itona's apartment with excuses for studying or dropping off 'essential supplies'.

Gakushuu frowned when he held up what Kurahashi had given. "...Kurahashi, I don't need a lava lamp."

The girl smiled brightly. "But it'll keep you warm, and what's wrong with more light!?"

"I'll have it." Itona swiped it but he could reply. "I can use the wiring for the pressure ray re-model." Gestured the machine which was being made into a more practical five lenses so it could be slipped into the supply shed easily and unnoticed.

"Hey! Don't break it!" Kurahashi tried to grab it back. "I used my allowance to buy that!"

"You shouldn't waste money." Itona ignored her and went to go dismantle it.

Gakushuu sighed, looking around the apartment which was full with nearly half of their class.

Karma and Takebayashi were tutoring Yoshida, Muramatsu, Hazama, and Terasaka on maths, while Nakamura, Isogai, and Nagisa were studying with Isogai and Kataoka.

Gakushuu sighed and sat back down near some book, he was only humouring them because of the large supply of books they were bringing over and since he was now limited on study resources he did need all the supplies he could get.

Nagisa glanced up from his book. "Can you help me with question five?" He pointed at the calculus question in the textbook. "I need to describe and explain if the answers true or false."

He looked the question over quickly. "You need to break it down into the basics," Gakushuu explained, picking up a pencil. "You have to follow the second fundamental theorem to solve it. F(x) = ∫ ax f(t) dt and then F '(x) = f(x)." He broke it down further so he boy would understand better.

"So the answers true?" Nagisa smiled, writing it down and explaining it. "We can write, F '(x) = dF / du * du / dx = 3 sin (3x)?"

"Correct."

"Thanks!" Nagisa smiled sheepishly. "It's still hard to understand, but I think I'm getting it."

Gakushuu hummed, opening his own textbook on social studies. Koro-sensei had said they needed to tutor each other on their worst subjects. "I suppose it does sound complicated." He frowned when he heard some of his classmates laughing. "It is a bit hard to concentrate..."

Nagisa looked amused. "It makes studying less stressful though."

"I suppose..." He had enjoyed his study sessions with his friends and the rest of 3-A, even if he'd never let it show. "It takes some getting used to."

"Yeah..." Nagisa's smile wavered, looking at his textbook. "Um, has your dad tried to contact you?"

"No." Gakushuu worked his way through the questions. "He'll be busy brainwashing my friends and driving them into the ground."

He heard Nagisa make a spluttering noise. "Sorry!"

"Why?" He raised an eyebrow, flustering the boy more. "It's not your fault."

Nagisa ducked his head sheepishly. "I shouldn't have brought it up..."

"I'm hardly affected by it." Gakushuu rolled his eyes and write some answers down for the first question. "Besides, it's not like you're the only one who's asked."

His classmates had taken to hovering, and failing dismally at being subtle about it.

"Yeah, I know..." Nagisa sighed. "They were like that with my mom after..."

"She nearly set the Old Campus building on fire? Yes, I heard," Gakushuu replied flippantly.

"Uh..." Nagisa looked grim. "Yeah...that..."

Gakushuu hummed, glancing at him. "Still...at least she listened to you in the end."

"Yeah..." The blue-haired boy didn't look happy about. "She's getting better, but she still has her moments where sometimes she's..." He shook his head. "Sugino says I should move in with my dad but...I still love her. She needs me."

Gakushuu touched his cheek where the bruise was still healing up, fading into a light yellow as the red and purpleness off it went away. Thinking of his father, a lot of the time it felt like he was the only thing stopping the Principal from going over the edge, steadying him.

When Ikeda had died the Principal had locked himself in his bedroom for three days, which had been detrimental to them both since Gakushuu had been five at the time and had to survive off sandwiches and fruit until his father had re-emerged with some of his sanity intact.

"It is inconvenient," he muttered, earning a glance from Nagisa. "I suppose the term navigating a landmine is more appropriate."

Nagisa grimaced, nodding. "Yeah..."

"You still forgave her though..."

"...She's still my mom," Nagisa murmured, leaning against the wall. "And she is getting better."

Gakushuu grew quietly, understanding. "That's something at least."

He wondered if the Principal could change overnight as well, or if a defeat from finals would just tip him over the edge.

***

"You're doing really well, Asano!" Koro-sensei praised him for what felt like the hundredth time this week.

Gakushuu rolled his eyes at the Koro-sensei copy during class as they all studied.

That was another annoying thing, Koro-sensei had decided to make it his mission to praise him for something every day and would stop trying pat his head or shoulder, despite how many time Gakushuu had tried to stab and shoot him; it was almost insufferable!

"Remember, try not to overcomplicate things," his teacher advised, guiding him through the question. "And don't rush through the through the description. You need to be tactile in your approach."

Gakushuu's brow furrowed, nodding as he worked through the Science textbook. Koro-sensei may have moved fast but he explained things clearly and more efficiently than his previous teacher, it was almost mind-boggling how relaxed revision seemed these last few weeks. He'd managed to secure six hours sleep while still staying well on top of the revision set once it was broken up into smaller fractions.

"Do you understand?" Koro-sensei patted him on the head.

Gakushuu was reluctant to give him praise but...

"...Yes, I understand," he replied, frowning when his teacher chuckled and looked more pleased.

It almost made him feel a little bad for what would come next. _Almost._

***

It was the last week of November, which meant two things, one being that the finals we're practically at the doorstep and two...

Today would be the day Koro-sensei would die!

Gakushuu had even been considerate enough to wait until the octopus had finished tutoring the rest of the class so they wouldn't be ill-prepared for finals. That and it added a bonus.

The first stage of the plan relied somewhat on circumstances.

When Koro-sensei used his doubles he was using up more of his energy and effectively overworking himself and getting weaker, he also tended to snack more.

Considering they only had one pressure the point of its direction needed to be paramount and the action of execution needed to be quick.

Gakushuu watched from a distance away as Takebayashi monitored with a trigger from the bombs. He and around half of his classmates were watching from the bottom of the mountain, a safe distance from Koro-sensei's nose.

He'd elected to have, Okajima, Mimura, Yoshida, Takebayashi, Terasaka, Itona, Kimura, and Sugaya as the main technicians since they'd more than proven capable after the Reaper debacle. 

Koro-sensei had multiple hiding spots for snacks, but the most common one frequented after school was in the supply shed underneath the floorboards.

Sugino had told them the place still stunk of fish so the scent of the bombs would be hidden.

"Is the camera feed live?" Gakushuu asked Itona.

"Yeah."

The main challenge was hooking the supply shed up with the equipment all in one day so Koro-sensei wasn't suspicious.

Being in an enclosed space would make escape harder, and not having any of them near directly wouldn't dip him off. He would have preferred an automated gun to shoot but Kayano had commented that the smell of the plastic or metal would be harder to hide than the pellets, and then Itona had mentioned an explosion causing annihilation and destroying the octopus's heart. 

"He's stepped in the shed," Itona reported.

Gakushuu smiled, feeling a thrill of adrenaline. "Activate the ray on the mark."

Once inside the pressure ray would light up and the bombs would go off, enough to completely drown the octopus in pellets.

Itona nodded, controller ready in hand.

Gakushuu leaned over and watched the screen as Koro-sensei sighed happily as he went to eat his treasure trove of snack.

With the position of the pellets being on the sides rather than the ground or ceiling and the velocity of the explosion would provide the least amount of damage to the pressure ray light so the octopus wouldn't have time to move if it was knocked out.

With the light modified into five lenses, even if one got knocked out, the other four would function.

Koro-sensei stepped on the mark.

Itona triggered the lights, dousing Koro-sensei in a ray of purple which made him yelp.

Gakushuu grinned. "Now!"

Takebayashi pressed the trigger and—

The Pressure ray blinked out and the bombs didn't explode.

WHAT?!!!

Gakushuu spluttered, grabbing the trigger and pressing. "WHY ISN'T IT WORKING?!!"

"Maybe it short-fused?!" Isogai suggested while the rest of the class looked confused.

"He's escaped," Itona reported dully.

"H-how? What?!" Gakushuu stared at the camera feed in confusion as Koro-sensei escaped. "This doesn't make any sensei? Did it short-fuse?—Mimura, I told you to check the wiring!"

"I did!" Mimura replied quickly. "Everything was fine!"

"Well, clearly it wasn't!" Gakushuu snapped.

"Hey, how about we just go check it out?" Sugaya suggested.

Gakushuu scowled, tossing the remote to the side as they all headed back up the mountain.

When they arrived at the site the first issue became obvious on first glance.

"What happened to the wire?!" Mimura frowned, examining the wire of the pressure ray that had been hidden in the leaves. "It's cut!"

"Let me see that." Gakushuu snatched it, scrutinising the cut. "It hasn't been chewed on, or cut by scissors." The cut was clean like it'd been sliced with a sword of some kind if that even made sense...

"Ah, a saboteur!" Koro-sensei chuckled from behind them, eating his snacks.

They all turned around quickly.

"Did you do this?" Gakushuu snapped, glaring.

"Hm?" Koro-sensei looked shocked. "I would never!" And then he paused. "Well, I might but it wasn't me." He chuckled. "Your attempt did catch me off guard, though." He gave him a red O in praise. "Very impressive acquiring a pressure ray of all things—though I have a feeling you did so by less than legal means..."

"Never mind that!" Gakushuu was angry. "I want to know who cut the wire!"

"It was probably an animal," Kimura suggested.

"These aren't bite marks," Gakushuu snapped, gesturing to the wire.

His classmates frowned and shared some looks.

"Yeah, but who'd sabotage it?" Mimura questioned. "The whole class was involved so they wouldn't mess with it."

Gakusuu deflated a little, knowing he had a point. It didn't make sense that his classmates would sabotage it so it had to be an outside source, but then did that mean Shiro was watching them again? He was the most likely suspect, especially since they had stolen his pressure ray.

The wire had been in a blind spot to the cameras, so how had whoever cut it known where the cameras were? More importantly, the main people who had helped set up the wires during the day had been Mimura, Kimura, Okano, Kayano, Muramatsu, Sugaya, and Okajima; none of them would have cut it...

He narrowed his eyes at the wire, something not adding up.

"It is curious..." Koro-sensei hummed but then chuckled. "Nevertheless, I'm quite impressed with the amount of teamwork you put into this, Asano!" He slapped a gold sticker on the boy's head. "Gold star for you!"

"HEY!" Gakushuu looked livid, ripping the stupid sticker off. "What the hell?!"

Koro-sensei and his classmates just laughed. "Very well done, my boy." He patted Gakushuu on the head while the boy glared up at him. "You've made your teacher proud!"

_Proud?_

Gakushuu stiffened at the casual use of the word, delivering the praise so easily even though the task was a failure. He'd had teachers in the past boast and throw around the word, but never in this exact context and so genuinely.

His brow furrowed as he looked up at the smiling teacher, growing embarrassed by his own hesitance. "Yes...well..." He scowled, shifting away. "I did what you asked, now you have to honour your end of the deal."

Koro-sensei giggled. "Yes, of course. A deal I a deal."

***

The thing about the wire still kept bothering him, even if there was no solid answer to find just yet.

Gakushuu sighed, lying awake on the futon Kanzaki had gifted him, in the dark of the apartment; it was only midnight but Itona tended to like to go to bed at that time so his schedule had ended up mirroring it to avoid disturbing the other boy.

His thoughts drifted to finals, tomorrow would be the first test at the main campus.

He felt some anxiety stir up in his stomach, remembering midterms and the disaster that had come after, he hadn't slept at all the night before and had been cramming all night. Something he had tied to do again but Itona had prompt hid all the textbooks and changed the internet password once he'd realised, meaning Gakushuu had no choice but to sleep.

He wondered if the Principal was actually sleeping for once or if he had at all during the last two weeks.

Gakushuu frowned, turning his phone on for some light. His hand slipped underneath the pillow to look at the photo of him and his father, staring at it in the dim light, feeling a odd homesickness eat away at him more.

***

When finals came it was like being flung into a battlefield, exhilarating but terrifying at the same time, with their main enemy being the stopwatch counting down with each test.

Gakushuu jumped to the next question after shooting down the last one, navigating through a chasm with the riddles of the first English test they had.

"WATCH OUT!" Yoshida cried when a particularly perplexing question came up in the form of an idiom.

Gakushuu tripped up when the blow came down too quick, finding himself at a wall as he tried to figure it out.

"Come on!" He clutched his head, trying to think. "Hurry up..."

"Hey!" Karma's smug smiled clouded his vision. "Don't start getting worked up, Asano-chan." He cooed, an AK-47 in hand. "You're gonna burn out before we even get to the hard stuff!"

Gakushuu glared at him, feeling his panic start to subside when frustration took hold. "Shut up!" He tried to stab him but Karma dodged and laughed. "I was just resting."

The demon grinned, already turning to the next question to slaughter. "Well don't rest too long all you'll miss all the fun!"

The boy was truly demented.

Gakushuu grimaced, straightening up as he readied his weapon. "Just try to keep up."

***

"You get a 30 minute lunch!" The examiner told them. "Don't be late back."

They all nearly collapsed on their desks from exhaustion.

"Oh, man, they stepped this up a whole other level!" Maehara said as they hurried out to get their lunches while they could.

Gakushuu sighed, loosening his tie slightly as he stepped into the hallway while they filtered out into the halls. He walked down the corridor to go find a vending machine since he'd forgotten to bring a lunch.

He let out a deep breath, the test had been tough but he was confident he'd gotten all the answers, even if he'd had to take his time reading the questions.

"Kill. Kill."

He felt a chill wash over him when he heard some demented muttering coming out of a classroom, like smog filtering out.

Gakushuu's eyes widened in horror when he saw his old classmates stumbling out of the classroom like zombies. "What the...Kanada, Juba?" he called out to the first to. "Tanaka?"

They ignored him like he didn't exist, heading straight down the hallway to the next classroom. Their skin looked washed out like corpses and the bags under their eyes hollowed out of their faces like something from a horror movie.

Gakushuu felt like vomiting when he saw his friends, with Ren, Araki, Seo, and Koyama muttering amongst themselves. "Ren?" He reached out to grab him, the boy looked sickly. " _Ren_ , listen to me—"

Ren pulled away from him without even a glance, leaving him standing there like he didn't exist.

His hand shook, staring at them as they left.

Gakushuu stood in the hallway as it grew silent again, curling his fingers into a fist as the horror gave way to anger.

***

"Uh..."

His classmates looked scared when he slaughtered the science question, sending it to the ground in a burning heap of flames.

"...Wow, what got into him?" Muramatsu squeaked.

Karma gave a low whistle noise. "Not sure." He grinned. "But it's fun!"

Gakushuu ignored them and picked up the gun and raced ahead. "Unless you want to finish dead last, hurry up!"

"Hot damn!" Nakamura cackled, following after with a bazooka over her shoulder. "You heard the man!" Her teeth were sharp. "LET'S GIVE THEM HELL!!"

The questions before them were put to dust in a trail of fire.

***

Then came the final question.

He was in a box again, something recurring throughout his whole life.

Gakushuu grimaced, reading through the question carefully Koro-sensei had advised.

The box was surrounded by all corners, there wasn't a way out.

He clenched his hands into fists, weighing up how he could escape it and defeat all the enemies surrounding...

Or maybe it wasn't as complicated as that. His hand tapped against the desk, glancing at his classmates who had collapsed from exhaustion. The only other person who seemed to be tackling the question was Karma and he was deep in thought, thinking.

Maybe there was something Karma saw which he couldn't see yet.

He paused, murmuring lowly as he read through the description again as he started to release that it might not be a case of defeating all of his enemies in each corner, but rather only one side, and one enemy, with everything else falling away and the only real enemy being right in front of him.

****

"Are you ready, boys and girls?" Koro-sensei had the results poster in hand.

Gakushuu took a deep breath, his leg shaking as he and the rest of the class stood up. He imagined the worst outcome if he'd failed. If e had to go back to his father now and submit.

Everyone held their breath as the poster was spread out, standing up ad walking to the front.

Gakushuu's heart hammered, looking straight at the top 50 rank.

"You." Terasaka gawked. "You're kidding me. I'm 46." His name was shown ranked 46 while Sugaya was ranked 44.

"Isn't Terasaka dead last even in here though?" Hiroto said.

"If he came in 46 then that must mean..."

Gakshuu held his breath, trailing his gaze higher up the ranking.

"Is this for real?"

He froze when his gaze landed on who'd gotten the top score.

"WE DID IT!!!" His classmates yelled.

"We..." Karma gawked, standing alongside in shock.

"HOLY SHIT, ASANO AND KARMA TIED!!" Maehara yelled.

Both Karma and Asano were listed tied with top scores of 500.

Gakushuu choked. "A-a tie?!"

"W-what?!" Karma looked dumbstruck.

"Congratulations, boys!" Koro-sensei said brightly, patting them both on the back. "To get maximum scores as well, simply brilliant!"

"We..." Gakushuu shook slightly. "This...I...I DEMAND A REMARK!"

"AH!" The others reeled back by the yell.

"Me too!" Karma looked just angry. "THIS IS BULLSHIT!"

"B-but, boys!" Koro-sensei stammered, trying to placate them. "There's a valuable lesson to be learnt here."

Fuck that!

"This has to be a fluke!" Gakushuu snapped. "A draw is unacceptable! I demand we all retake the test!!"

"HELL NO!" His classmates shouted.

Karma scowled. "Seriously? How is this even a thing? Couldn't they have just flipped a coin!"

"Hey, look on the bright side, we still won!" Sugaya reminded them. "We all got in the top 50—"

"Oh, be quiet, Sugaya, that's unimportant right now!" Gakushuu snapped, glaring at Karma. "I demand a rematch."

"Hey, get some test papers out, we'll do it right now!" Karma challenged. "I don't even need prep—let's go!"

"BOYS!!" Koro-sensei intervened, keeping them apart. "Please!"

"Yeah, come on you too, we should be celebrating." Okano smiled. "And we actually beat A class. Almost sounds too good to be true."

"Back on track for the top tier schools!" Mimura looked excited.

Okajima cheered. "The ladies will be throwing themselves at our feet!"

Gakushuu still scowled. "...I could have won, though..."

"Same," Karma muttered.

"But, victory doesn't require you to crush your enemies, remember?" Koro-sensei said gently, making the two boys pause. "You both won, and the fact you came in a tie does truly show how equal you are. Two students both landing second place in exams like this isn't commonplace."

Gakushuu's scowl faded a little, considering that.

Karma sighed. "Whatever, I'll beat you in high school."

He glared at him. "Keep dreaming. I won't give you a chance to even score in the top ten."

The demon smirked. "You wanna make that a bet?"

"No bets, please!" Nagisa intervened, sighing.

Isogai looked over curiously when he heard Takebayashi sigh in relief. "What's with that look, man. Are you OK?"

Takebayashi smiled. "Yeah. It's just that so much has happened since I came here. I'm really glad I got kicked down..."

Terasaka grinned and grabbed him in a chokehold. " Oh, why you're gonna be all depressing. Huh?!"

"Besides, why make an ugly face when this clown has a covered," Itona said dryly, making Terasaka scowl.

"What does that mean?!" Terasaka snarled, choking Takebayashi while Itona covered his ears and looked bored.

"Terasaka, You're choking him!" Isogai intervened.

Gakushuu looked over at them with interest, picking up his test scores as everything started to sink in.

Dropping down to E Class had turned out to be an advantage rather than as hellish as he'd imagined...even if there had been a few bumps along the way...and he'd nearly died more than a few times.

"So, you think this is enough to change your dad?" Karma asked.

Gakushuu frowned, unsure. "I'd hope so, but..." He still felt uneasy. "He is stubborn." He took out his phone. "I need to check on Ren and the others, this defeat will be a blow to them as well, and hopefully one to knock them back to their senses.

"Bet you anything they never thought in a million years they'd lose to us," Maehara said smugly.

"Now to be fair on their part A class performed quite well in the first half of the exams," Koro-sensei reasoned. "But as the questions grew increasingly difficult in the second half. More and more students found themselves running out of steam."

Nakamura smiled. "Yeah well, that's what they get. Whoever you are nobody's bloodlust holds out that long. Even after intensive assassination drills," she explained. "It's next to impossible staying in that frame of mind for an entire day. Slow and steady."

Gakushuu agreed, sighing when he tried to ring but no one picked up. "No ones answering..."

"Maybe they need more time," Kayano reasoned.

He hummed, staring at his phone suspiciously. "It's the Principal I'm more concerned about..."

"Meh, if he wants to be a sore loser, let him!" Yoshida scoffed. "The guy's lost. He's just gonna have to accept it."

Gakushuu frowned still, wondering how his father was taking it. "He hasn't lost in a long time." He looked outside the window in the direction of the main campus. "There's no telling to how he's taking it."

His father's behaviour had been on a downward spiral since the start of the year, and when he'd last saw him, something had been even more off when they spoke...

"Hey, don't start brooding!" Terasaka laughed, flinging an arm around him. "You're ruining the mood, Mr Perfect!"

Gakushuu scowled and tried to hit him. "Get off me, you oaf!"

*******

Gakushuu was deep in thought as he stared at his test results later on in the day during class.

Koro-sensei addressed his students while he held a cup of tea. "Well, boys and girls. You've officially qualified to be transferred out of E class." He smirked. "Anyone here ready to leave the mountain?"

Gakushuu's brow furrowed, looking up when he thought of his friends back in A-Class. The loss would be devastating and make them even more vulnerable than they were before now that the Principal had failed them as well.

There was still the third term with entrance exams and preparing for high school. They needed a leader now more than ever, and he'd already abandoned them once before when they'd needed him...

The class was baring their guns and knives. "Yeah. You'd like that wouldn't you?" Maehara teased.

" I don't think so. We found our second blades." Mimura smiled. "This is where things get serious."

"If you know a place better suited to assassination we're all ears?" Kataoka said as a BB gun went off.

Koro-sensei chuckled and dodged the pellets.

Gakushuu remained in his seat, sighing as he looked around him. "...Actually," he spoke up, causing everyone to pause and looked up. "I think..." His stomach twisted. "I think I need to go ba—"

The whole campus shifted like an earthquake had hit.

A crane from outside came down and tore into a side of the old campus. 


	7. He hated this class

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Final part! Still can't believe it started as a oneshot, but it's been a fun short story to write!

Gakushuu hadn't seen his father this unbalanced since Ikeda died, and even then he hadn't tried to demolish a building when he'd been inside.

"Apologies, the construction workers are a little overeager." The Principal smiled like everything was fine. "Now, evacuate the premises. Please."

He and the rest of his classmates looked out the window and stared at him in horror.

"What are you doing!?" Gakushuu yelled, feeling his horror grow. "Why would you destroy the building?!"

The Principal smiled pleasantly while they looked out from the window. "The board reached a unanimous decision," he told them brightly. "The old campus building is to be demolished today." They all gasped. "Oh, but don't worry you'll be moved to an affiliate school slated to open next year. We need students to performance test their newest facilities."

Gakushuu's stomach churned. "What?"

"Performance tests?" Sugaya looked alarmed. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"You're seriously shipping us out!?" Yoshida yelled.

His father kept talking but he was barely listening, the whole situation was insane. He knew his father considered the building a failure and no doubt didn't like the reminder, but destroying it would be like killing the last memories of Ikeda.

Koro-sensei came and landed outside. "I see you'll spare nothing to see your methods vindicated."

"Correct." The Principal reached into his pocket. "Oh, and incidentally your services will no longer be required. Yes, I'm afraid so." He held up a notice of dismissal. "This is the part where I terminate you."

Koro-sensei spluttered in horror. "AHHH!"

"Woah, he just got slapped with walking papers!" Isogai exclaimed.

"I don't believe it!" Maehara said. "The man actually played the forbidden ace in the hole."

"Is he an idiot?" Gakushuu stared at his father in alarm.

Koro-sensei started holding up protests signs. "This is wrongful dismissal!!

"Where did he even get the signs?!" Hara questioned.

The Principal smiled as Koro-sensei started mouthing off in the background. "Now don't go jumping to conclusions. Actually, this is no more than a clever means of distracting you." He lowered the papers and smiled. "When I said terminate, I meant it literally."

"What?" Nagisa and the rest of them exchanged concerned looks.

"I'm here to kill you." The Principal's smile was deadly, making Koro-sensei pause. "You see, Koro-sensei. You don't fit with my vision."

Gakushuu felt his blood run cold, gritting his teeth. "Is he serious...?"

"Dude!" Muramatsu hissed. "Your dad has lost it!"

Gakushuu grimaced, looking down as his dread mounted.

_Just what is he playing at?_

***

Later, they were all gathered just outside the classroom window while the Principal and Koro-sensei stood in the classroom with five desks surrounding a chair, with different textbooks on top.

Gakushuu gripped the edge of the window, looking over at Mr Karasuma and Bitch-sensei who were watching from the doorway, disturbed.

"Just what is your dad trying to prove?" Nakamura whispered, frowning. "He's already lost."

Gakushuu grimaced, as his father started to explain the plan. "He isn't thinking clearly, he's being emotional." He touched his almost healed cheek absently. "Which is never good..."

"Now then. Koro-sensei," the Principal spoke, "I assume you don't wish to be fired." Koro-sensei made a nervous sound. "And furthermore that you wish to preserve this classroom." He walked around until his back was to the window where the students were watching from outside. "Well, what would you say to a little wager?"

The students looked over worriedly.

"I've prepared five textbooks," the Principal explained. "And five hand grenades. Four of them are anti-sensei grenades." He gestured t the grenades. "While the fifth...is a normal grenade."

"What?!" Gakushuu snapped, nearly choking. "Where the hell did you even get a real grenade? Are you crazy—"

"Asano, that's enough," his father interrupted sharply, silencing him with a dark look. "Now, as I was saying..."

Gakushuu's stomach twisted when his father explained further.

_Why would he use a real grenade?! What if...?_

"Asano, your dad's fucking insane," Terasaka whispered.

Gakushuu grimaced. "It does look that way..."

Even for his father's standards, this was going too far. The whole thing was reckless, and for what outcome? Koro-sensei's death wouldn't make any of them instantly turn to the Principal's way of thinking or magically erase 3-A's failure.

_The whole thing was petty!_

Worst yet, Koro-sensei actually looked nervous.

The Principal asked Terasaka to work out the percentage of success, which he did surprisingly quickly. Gakushuu was almost proud.

"Correct!" The Principal praised.

Terasaka looked annoyed. "Only because you were shoving them in my face!" He glared at the man. "Also! The octopus has to survive four dead grenades in a row. But if things get too hairy for you, you just have to give up and walk away without a scratch!" He gritted his teeth. "This game is totally rigged in your favour!"

"Of course, it is," Gakushuu said coldly, narrowing his eyes at his father. "You'd never take a bet unless you were sure victory was absolute."

"True." The Principal smirked, stepping towards the window. "I've told you enough times the strong are not truly strong until the enemy is crushed, otherwise the balance can be tipped."

"We still won," Gakushuu said firmly. "Nothing about this will change anything." His stomach twisted. "It's reckless and stupid!"

"Far from that." His father's gaze narrowed. "There is clearly a difference n strength." He placed a hand on his head, causing him and the others to tense. "That's why I've come to teach you to join the side of the strong."

"How is this meant to teach us anything?!" Gakushuu cringed when the wild look in his father's eye became impossible not to see. "It's not going to convince me to come home, and killing him won't—" He winced when his father yanked his head tight. "Ah!"

"Hey!" Kataoka looked angry, along with the others. "Stop it!"

"I think that's enough talking for now," the Principal replied coldly before letting Gakushuu go, causing him to nearly trip until Itona and Terasaka caught him. "Shall we proceed, Koro-sensei?"

Koro-sensei gulped. "Uh..."

Gaksuhuu grimaced, rubbing the bruise on his head as he straightened up

The Principal smiled, making the teacher shiver when he patted him on the shoulder. "Show me how serious you are about your chosen profession, Koro-sensei." His voice lowered. "In fact, I wouldn't waste a single second."

"Yes...of course," Koro-sensei said feebly, looking down at the first textbook. "Let's jump right in..."

"Open, solve the problem and close." The Principal stood in front of the doorway and smiled. "Move quickly enough and the grenade won't go off. Speed is your speciality, yes? This should be a walk in the park."

"Uh..." Koro-sensei tensed. "Yes...excellent point." He breathed heavily as he stared at the Geometry book. "...Uh. Later calculations! Oh!!" Koro-sensei grew flustered when he read the first question. "Oh-Oh this couldn't be easier!!" He gripped his head as he raced to think. "Oh, yeah—I gotta borrow from the tens and get the three with the four—leftover—uh actually I believe it's three over about—"

Gakushuu flinched and reeled back as the grenade exploded.

"We'll call the first one a hit," The Principal said pleasantly. "Bravo." He looked pleased. "Only three more to go and you'll have won the game." He held up the notice of dismissal. "Now, please move onto the next problem before you've re-generated."

"This is BS! No way he can survive more of those explosions!" Yoshida exclaimed.

Muramatsu gawked. "He's seriously gonna be taken out! And the set-up is so freaking simple!"

"Damn it..." Gakushuu scowled. "It shouldn't end like this..."

Isogai nodded. "We're meant to be the ones to kill him."

"And he's just doing it to be petty," Kataoka whispered, glaring at the Principal.

"The weak can only hope to kill the strong through assassination," The Principal said smugly. "But the strong can eliminate the weak however and whenever they desire." He curled his hand into a fist. "I shall sow this truth across the nation!"

"Dude, what the fuck is he saying?" Yoshida whispered.

Gakushuu sighed. "Honestly, he's just delusional at this point.

His father's voice grew darker. "With the money, the ministry of defence has given me, as well as the bounty on your head, I'll make the whole country my escalator school!"

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Nakamura yelled, while the rest of the class look disturbed.

Fuwa grimaced. "How obsessed can you be about education?!"

Gakushuu's gut twisted, feeling the dread get worse—

Then Koro-sensei brightly turned to the Principal. "Alrighty, then open solved and closed!" He turned to the next book.

Nearly everyone did a double-take.

"Wait, what?" Gakushuu's eyes widened.

Koro-sensei chuckled. "Fortunately. I just so happen to remember more or less which questions are on what page in this particular series of books math was the only trouble spot that one's been loaned out to a student for so long, I'd forgotten."

Gakushuu nearly choked, looking at his father who had grown very still and was staring at the octopus in surprise as Koro-sensei continued to cheerfully explain to them how he had memorised all of the textbooks in Japan...like that was normal.

Gakushuu felt a small swell of relief, which then vanished when the next consequence emerged like a dark shadow.

There was only one book left, and the real grenade hadn't gone off.

"I'm afraid this one-dimensional stratagem may wind up getting the better of you." They all looked at the final book. "There. We have it the last book. Your turn I believe.."

Everyone in the room looked towards the Principal, silent while the man stood there and stared at the book.

Gakushuu swallowed his dread. "Alright, that's enough!" He climbed back into the classroom. "Just stop."

"Asano, be careful!" Koro-sensei looked at him in alarm.

"Asano, stay back," Mr Karasuma scolded, looking concerned.

The Principal narrowed his eyes at his son. "Get back outside."

"Why?" Gakushuu challenged, walking up to him. "So you can be stupid enough to actually open the book?" He gestured to the book. "You lost, just—"

His father grabbed his arm tight. "I told you to go outside."

Gakushuu eyes widened when he stared up at him.

_Does he...does he want to die?_

The colour left his face, feeling sick.

_His father wanted to..._

_This..._

"Leave him alone!" Itona raised his voice, surprising the others.

"Hey! Let him go!" Terasaka yelled, looking ready to jump over.

Kurahashi's brow knitted into an angry scowl. "Stop being such a bully!"

"Yeah, get off him!" Yoshida snarled. "This was your idea case you forgot." He scoffed. "Just admit defeat and leave us alone."

The glare the Principal shot him was deadly and as sharp as a dagger.

Yoshida yelped and hid behind Kataoka.

His father squeezed his wrist tight as Gakushuu looked up in dread. "I know exactly what I'm doing, Asano." His voice didn't sound calm. "Now, be quiet and go outside—"

"No!" Gakushuu snapped, trying to wrench his arm free. "I'm not just going to let you die! How crazy—"

"I said, _be quiet_!" His father shouted, making the other students flinch. "This is the path of the strong and I will not concede!" He gripped his son's wrist tighter as Gakushuu held back a wince. "The road to victory is paved with sacrifices!"

"Sir, this has gone on long enough," Mr Karasuma warned from the doorway with Bitch-sensei. "Stand down and walk away."

"He's right, Principal Asano, just stop!" Nagisa called out, looking disturbed. "You don't need to do this!"

"Listen to your son!" Kataoka yelled.

Gakushuu shot them a surprised look over his shoulder before looking back at his father, trying to find the right thing to say to calm him down.

"...Dad," The word was clumsy and underused when he said it, but caused the grip on his wrist to lighten. "Dad...please, I'll come home," Gakushuu promised, earning some protest from his classmates. "I know that it must have been hard with me being away." He swallowed a bad taste. "So let's just go home...please."

His father's grip shook, staring down at him. "Son..."

Gakushuu forced himself to stay calm. "You don't need to do this, dad." He shook his head. "This isn't what...what Ikeda would—"

The grip became iron clad again. "Don't bring him into this!"

"Okay!" he replied quickly, feeling his heart start to race. "I apologise."

"My Educational Philosophy still stands, it still works," his father insisted, sounding like a man possessed. "Even if the Earth's destroyed, it still remains."

_He still wasn't listening._

"Dad, no." Gakushuu shook his head quickly. "Stop."

"Please, sir," Koro-sensei said calmly. "Taking a grenade blast won't end well for you. Listen to your son."

"And firing Koro-sensei won't change anything," Kataoka said firmly. "We'll follow wherever he goes."

Kanzaki smiled. " Don't get us wrong. It'll be sad to leave this place behind but whatever comes we're going right along with him!"

Koro-sensei was sobbing with joy. "Really?!"

"That's right," Isogai said firmly. " Even if we got a runaway from home or holed up in a cave." The Principal's eyes narrowed. "We'll keep this class going. It's not over until March."

"So, just stop," Gakushuu insisted as his father's grip loosened. "You don't need to do this. We can go home. I'll go back to A-Class, you won't have to worry anymore."

"I..." Something like regret flickered in his father's eyes as he looked down. "...I failed."

"Just because you failed doesn't mean you can't learn from it," Gakushuu tried to reason.

His father let go of his wrist and cupped the cheek that was healing. "I hit you."

Gakushuu grimaced, his shoulders tensing up. "It's fine...it doesn't matter. Let's just go home—"

"I failed," his father repeated again, something haunted overcasting his face. "I failed again."

 _Why can't he just listen for five minutes?!_ He thought as he saw his father closing off again.

"Wait, no!" He started to grow frustration. "Just listen—"

"My education is absolute." The grip on his face growing crushing. "A grenade would be a welcomed—"

Gakushuu kicked him in the gut, knocking him onto his knees. "Will you shut up and just listen to me for once!?!"

The others reeled back in shock at the kick.

The Principal coughed, clutching his stomach as he looked up. "Son?"

"None of this is going to change what's happened!" He shouted at him. "And if you're going to kill yourself then have the damn decency to not do it in front of me!"

His father's eyes widened. "I..."

"You might not care enough, but I do," Gakushuu said, balling his hands into fists. "Even if you're the worst father. You're still _my_ dad." His eyes stung. "Shouldn't that mean something to you?"

Everyone else was silent, but he ignored them , focusing on his father as a series of emotions filtered across the man's face, like he was glitching out.

"You'd..."His father hung his head. "You'd be better off without me..."

"Shut up!" Gakushuu snapped, blinking more when his eyes hurt. "Don't say that, you idiot!" he reprimanded. "How the hell would I be better off? You're the only family I have. I don't want you dead."

His father grimaced, rubbing his stomach as he stood up. "But...I failed. I failed you." He stared at his hands. "I couldn't make you strong—"

"I am strong," Gakushuu snapped, growing frustrated. "And part of that is thanks to your horrible parenting," he shot back, earning a frown from the man. "Strength is adaptable, dad. It's not perfect dominion over the weak." He sighed. "You need to stop interfering just because you're afraid of losing."

"Your son's right," Koro-sensei nodded in approval. "I hope you won't mind, but I took the liberty of speaking to your old cram school students. I wanted to get their impressions of you as a teacher."

The Principal looked caught off guard. "...Why would you do that?"

"Because we have a lot in common," Koro-sensei replied, causing him and everyone else to look surprised. "We're both stubborn education fiends, willing to forfeit our lives for the privilege of molding young minds." He chuckled. "Imagine my surprise upon learning that the idea of teaching you exemplified 12 years ago, is identical to mine," Koro-sensei continued. "Though. As far as students are concerned. I've been lucky, E-class is a marvellous proving Ground. There are a fair number of students you see, and they all share the same predicament. Even your son's an example."

Gakushuu cheeks heated up when the octopus patted him on the head fondly. "Uh..."

"He's grown leaps and bounds in barely two months, thanks to his new friends," Koro-sensei praised, pinching the boy's cheeks. "It makes me so proud!"

"Stop!" Gakushuu whacked the tentacle away.

Koro-sensei chuckled while the Principal raised an eyebrow. "These boys and girls work as a team unafraid to ask for help or to hold each other up." The Principal looked at Gakushuu curiously. "And if I may point out credit for conceiving of and implementing this class goes first and foremost to you."

Gakushuu frowned, looking over at his father warily when the man stayed quiet. "You can't interfere and control everything just because you're afraid of failure, sir." he told his father firmly. "Thinking that way isn't the mindset to win." He crossed his arms. "Koro-sensei may be an unqualified hippy masquerading as a teacher—"

"WHAT?!" Koro-sensei was offended. "No, I'm not!"

"—But he makes a good point and he's teaching us how to be strong, the same vision as you," Gakushuu continued, causing Koro-sensei to perk up. "You're letting your emotions stop you from seeing the bigger picture here."

His father's brow furrowed more, as Koro-sensei presented him an anti-sensei knife.

"Incidentally." The octopus handed him and Anti-sensei knife. "I'm the only thing this knife can kill, the taking of human life plays no part in our approach. You and I are one in the same, Principal. We don't teach killingwe teach life. So why not stay true to ourselves and continue down this road?"

Gakushuu watched his father cautiously as the man examined the knife, staring at it like he was lost in thought.

"...My philosophy has always been right on the nose," The Principal said. "Students have to be strong. My successes over the past 12 years prove this and I suppose so long as you acknowledge its proper function." He took the knife and held it close to his chest. "I see no reason why you and E-class can't remain here as you are..."

Koro-sensei chuckled. "Still too proud to admit defeat, I see."

"Oh." The Principal smiled faintly and held up the knife. "And do you mind if I stop by and try my hand at killing you once in a while?"

"What?" Gakushuu looked confused.

"Oh, that would be wonderful," Koro-sensei spoke like they were arranging a lunch. "Come by any time."

Gakushuu scowled at his teacher. "You're ridiculous." He turned to his father. "Come on, I'll take you home." He narrowed his eyes when his father frowned. "I don't trust you to be mentally stable enough to make it home in one piece."

His father looked offended.

"Uh, Asano, are you sure?" Isogai asked, looking concerned like the rest of his classmates.

"Yeah, you don't have to," Itona said, eyeing the Principal like he was a rat.

"Yes, are you sure?" Mr Karasuma shot the Principal a cold look.

Gaushuu sighed. "It's fine. I'll text you later."

"No, I'll come." Itona hopped back into the classroom.

"Itona-"

"I let you stay at mine." Itona picked up his bag from the side. "You should return the favour."

Gakushuu sighed, glancing at the Principal and then Itona's stubborn frown. "Well, come on then."

***

Gakushuu was thankful that the house was tidy and not a wreck, he had worried since his absence clearly had an impact on his father's mental wellbeing.

Itona gave them some privacy and lounged in the living room while they were in the kitchen.

"Here." Gakushuu put some herbal tea on the table in front of his father.

"...Thank you." His father stared at the cup for a second before drinking.

Gakushuu hummed, resting his gaze on the crack in the tiles where he'd hit his head. "You're welcome." He looked over at the fridge. "...Do you want me to make dinner?"

"No, that's fine, thank you," his father replied stiffly.

Gakushuu looked at the kitchen which seemed underused. He also noted a few of the wine bottles were missing or half empty on the rack.

He narrowed his eyes when he looked in the fridge to find it empty besides a carton of milk and an egg. "When was the last time you ate?"

His father hesitated. "...I believe a few days ago—"

"For goodness sake!" Gakushuu shut the fridge and went to prepare dinner. "We have a maid, why didn't you just ask her to prepare something? Or even cook something yourself?" He sighed and took off his blazer, rolling his sleeves up as he grabbed a bag of rice. "I've barely been gone a month—and you have the audacity to call me a child?"

His father stayed silent while Gakushuu rushed to prepare something edible and decent, his cooking may not be their maid Erina's level, but it was still good enough.

He prepared a meal while his father sipped his tea and just watched.

A few texts came in on his phone while he was cooking, nearly all from Class A who seemed to have finally broken out of their zombie haze.

 _"Gakushuu!"_ Ren's voice was nearly sobbing when he answered. " _Are you okay? Shit—my head feels like someone put a power drill to it!"_

Gakushuu sighed, balancing the phone near his ear while he added some seasoning to the dish in the pan. "Yes, I'm fine. What about everyone else?"

 _"Uh...is there another word for traumatised?"_ Ren asked, sounding strained. " _Your dad tossed a desk into a wall when we told him we wanted to go to E Class."_

Gakushuu's eyes widened. "Really?"

_Huh..._

_A little dramatic._

_"Yeah, Seo actually pissed his pants."_

Gakushuu held back a snort. "I see..." He looked over his shoulder at his father who was calmly drinking tea. "Well, at least it was his own property he damaged."

_"Not really the point, Gakushuu!"_

He shrugged. "It makes the legality easier."

 _"It was bad."_ Ren sighed deeply. _"The others said they saw him heading to 3-E. Did anything happen?"_

Gakushuu grimaced. "...Yes, but it's resolved now." He glanced over his shoulder at his father who was drinking the tea. "At least the worst of it seems so..."

_"Wait, are you with him now?"_

Gakushuu sighed. "Yes...just for a bit," he muttered. "Itona's here."

_"Who?"_

"An...associate."

 _"Oh."_ Ren sounded a little confused. " _Well, do you want me to come over as well."_

Gakushuu sighed. "Not right now, I don't want things getting crowded."

He also didn't want arguments to start if Ren meddled too much or got emotional.

_"Okay, but we'll talk later, right?"_

"Yes, Ren. We will." He sighed, turning the fire down as the food finished cooking.

 _"Well, okay..."_ Ren sounded unsure still. _"I'm just glad you're okay. I'll call you later."_

"That's fine." Gakushuu hesitated. "...Thank you for calling...I appreciate it."

 _"Uh...Are you sure you're okay?"_  
Gakushuu scowled. "Goodbye, Ren." He hung up and put the phone down, serving the meal into some bowls. "Honestly..." He stuck some chopstick in the bowl and walked over to his father."Here."

His father looked at the bowl and then at Gakushuu with a pathetically passive expression. "...Thank you."

"I hope you don't expect this to be a routine." Gakushuu sighed, grabbing a bowl for Itona. "I'm not cooking for you—be grateful I didn't poison it." He walked passed to go give Itona a bowl.

His father gently grabbed his wrist, causing him to pause. "You're..." His father grimaced and gently touched the bruise on his wrist, looking up remorsefully. "You're a...a good son."

Gakushuu's eyes widened briefly in alarm, and then grew uncomfortable when the Principal actually looked sincere. Which just made things worse. "...Well, someone in this family has to be a decent human being."

His father stayed quiet, letting go of his wrist and turning back to his meal. "Yes, I suppose that's true..."

Gakushuu regarded him hesitantly before leaving the kitchen.

"Here." Itona looked up from his phone. "As compensation." Gakushuu scowled, gesturing for him to take the bowl. "You're hungry right?"

  
Itona raised an eyebrow, taking the bowl. "...You'll need to start making my lunch if you're serious about this debt."

Gakushuu scoffed, sitting next to him. "The food in your house was barely edible, at least when I moved in we both ate half-way decently."

Itona hummed, glancing at him from the corner of his eye. "So you're moving back home then?"

He sighed, considering it. "...I'm still undecided." He looked over at the kitchen entrance way, and then as the bruise on his wrist. "On account of my father being hopeless and painfully reckless without having me around as a stabilising presence."

Itona hummed, frowning. "It doesn't mean it's your job to watch him though."

Gakushuu sighed, shifting. "...Yes, I know that."

"He'll change back if you're not careful." Itona ate quietly. "You undercooked the rice by the way."

"Then make your own," Gakushuu replied irritably, running a hand down his face. "He's still my father..." he said softly, grimacing. "Even if he is a bastard..."

Itona hummed, chewing on his food. "It's okay, I get it."

Gakushuu sighed, loosening his tie as the day's events weighed on him. "I'll stay the night and then tomorrow...tomorrow we'll see." He stood up. "You can sleep in the guest room."

"Are you going to change the sheets?" Itona replied.

"Change them yourself!" Gakushuu snapped before heading upstairs.

***

"What do you mean you're leaving!?" Maehara yelled when he told them the news a few days later.

Gakushuu sighed, feeling a strange mix of emotions as they gathered around him near the front. "Well, thanks to my father, 3-A is an even bigger mess than they were when I left." He grimaced. "If I don't step in and start leading them they won't be strong enough to pass their entrance exams, let alone be a success in high school."

"But you're one of us!" Kurahashi's lip wobbled.

"We fucking bonded!" Yoshida swore.

"We got chased by a tentacle tarantula for you!" Terasaka complained.

"What?!" Koro-sensei looked terrified. "What do you mean?"

Mr Karasuma sighed, shaking his head while Bitch-sensei raised an eyebrow.

"You can't go, Asano!" Kanzaki looked sad. "We'll miss you!"

Gakushuu's eyes widened a little, but he quickly cleared his throat. "Look, I'll admit, spending time with you has been more... _enjoyable_ , than anticipated." He frowned. "But, A-Class chose me as their leader and I still have a responsibility to them. You all have Koro-sensei and Mr Karasuma to direct you on the right track—"

"Hey, what about me!?" Bitch-sensei snapped from the doorway.

He ignored her. "—A-Class doesn't have that support, which is why they need me."

"So noble!" Koro-sensei sobbed, pulling the boy into a hug. "Our little Asano has sprouted wings and is ready to fly the nest."

"Will you get off me!" Gakushuu tried to stab him but Koro-sensei just hugged him tighter like he was being suffocated by a great mass of goop while snot was slobbered on him. "UGH!"

His classmates started laughing like the whole torture was hilarious.

Koro-sensei sniffled and patted him on the head. "You'll still visit your beloved sensei, right!?" He cried more while Gakushuu tried to shoot him. "DON'T FORGET ME!"

Gakushuu tried to aim his gun at him but kept getting smushed. "I wish I could forget!!" Trying to kick him as snot got on his hand. "You're disgusting!"

Koro-sensei hiccupped and then finally let him go. "My apologies." He took out his hanky and tried to wipe the snot from Gakushuu's face. "It's so emotional!"

"I'm not moving away!" Gakushuu scowled, pushing him away as he was put back down on the ground. "Besides, I'm still staying with Itona, so you'll know where to find me."

"I'm gonna start charging rent," Itona said bluntly.

Gakushuu rolled his eyes. "Anyway, it would be nice to adjust to some level of normalcy." He looked back at his soon to be former classmates. "I'll still be checking in to make sure you're not slacking on your duties to save the world."

Isogai smiled. "Good, so long as we get to stop by the main campus to say hello as well."

"And we can still plot world domination, right, Asano?!" Ritsu looked ready to cry.

Gakushuu sighed. "Yes, I've already got more plans drawn up."

"Yay!" Ritsu clapped happily.

Mr Karasuma made a noise of despair in the background. "For the last time, you are not plotting world domination!"

Terasaka smirked, swinging an arm around Gakushuu. "Yeah, don't start thinking we're gonna let you go around acting like top dog again!"

Nakamura chuckled, poking him. "Yeah, especially since we know your little secret with Transformers."

Gakushuu blushed, glaring at her. "Tell a soul and I'll kill you."

"Aw, cute." Karma mocked, ruffling his hair while Terasaka put Gakushuu in a tighter headlock. "We'll keep that in mind the next time we have you tied and gagged."

"It was funny how easy that was," Hayami commented lightly.

"Shut up!" Gakushuu scowled, wrestling free. "I already warned you, I will take legal action if it occurs again."

"Sure!" Nakamura laughed along with the others.

He huffed, smoothing down his hair. "Anyway, I still do have a few assassination plans I was thinking of running by you."

"So are you going to be student council president again?" Kataoka asked.

Gakushuu shrugged. "Not likely considering how late in the term it is, which means I will have more free time."

"That's good." Kurahashi looked happy, linking arms with him. "You can come hang out with us after school as well, there's a nice ice-cream place me and Yada wanted to show you!"

He hummed. "Yes, I suppose I can schedule that in."

"Hey, you can even invite A-Class," Okano crossed her arms. "So long as they're on good behaviour."

Kanzaki smiled nervously. "Yes, um, please make sure Sakikabara doesn't start talking about me becoming his maid..."

"Yeah, he better not!" Sugino said protectively.

Gakushuu sighed, knowing what Ren was like. "I'll make sure to have a word with him. He normally behaves better in my presence."

"Well, that's good," Kanzaki looked relieved, and then went over to give him a hug, causing him to tense. "Remember to eat and take care of yourself."

"Yeah!" Kurahashi joined the hug. "Don't overwork yourself."

"And, if you need to talk, we're here," Yada said kindly, embracing him as well.

Gakushuu scowled, feeling crushed. "Yes, yes, thank you." He tried to politely push them away but they clung like leeches. "You can let go now!"

_What was with these people and physical affection?_

Kanzaki smiled and let go, along with the others. "Since today's your last day in class we should do something special!"

Gakushuu sighed, brushing some hair off his shoulders. "It's fine, that won't be—"

"CLASS FAREWELL PARTY!!" Koro-sensei yelled as he sped across the room and stuffed party hats on everyone's head, decorating the room with balloons and a badly made banner.

Gakushuu looked confused. "What the-?"

"Smile!" Koro-sense started taking photos. "We can't waste any time!"

Gakushuu cringed as the camera flashed again, the octopus working in overdrive. "Ridiculous..." He sighed, taking off his party hat.

Nagisa laughed, holding up a balloon. "Yeah, but it's nice."

He hummed, staring at the octopus who was frantically creating a mass of balloons which were filling the classroom. "...I suppose."

_It was ridiculous._

"Get off!" Mr Karasuma ripped the party hat off while Koro-sensei tried to put one on Bitch-sensei's head and the rest of the class had started playing with the balloons.

_But, there were some things he supposed he'd miss..._

***

"Wait, so we just separate the factors like this?" Seo asked while Gakushuu showed him a simpler method during their study session.

"Yes, it's much more efficient," Gakushuu replied, remembering how Koro-sensei had shown him. "It's still the same as the traditional method, just from a different perspective."

Seo hummed, smiling slightly as he worked it out. "Huh. Nice!"

"It is a lot easier, Asano," Kanada smiled brightly. "Class E's teacher seems really good!"

"Well, he's definitely..." Gakushuu raised an eyebrow, remembering seeing Koro-sensei fail at discreetly reading porn magazines during a lesson. "...Unusual."

"He's called Mr Karasuma right?" Satsuki asked, grinning. "He's really hot!"

"Not as beautiful as the blond teacher." Ren grinned, leaning on the desk. "She looks like a model!"

Gakushuu rolled his eyes. "Her personality isn't much to go on."

"They seem really cool, though," Miura commented. "Even if they are all a bit strange..."

Gakushuu hummed, feeling a strange ache in his stomach for some reason. "Yes, they are a bit..." He shrugged. "Still though...they were interesting classmates to have."

"Not as good as us though, right, Asano?" Seo grinned.

He rolled his eyes again. "Well, the lack of co-dependency was a relief."

"HEY!" Seo looked embarrassed. "We're not co-dependent."

Gakushuu kept studying, writing down in his notes. "I barely left you alone for two months and you all crashed harder than Araki after a caffein high."

"NOT TRUE!" His classmates yelled.

Araki blushed. "I can handle my caffein."

Ren scoffed. "Oh, please, we all know you can barely handle decaf."

"Shut up!"

"If anyone's co-dependent, it's Seo!" Satsuki huffed, flipping her hair back.

"No, I'm not!" Seo snapped.

Gakushuu smirked faintly as he watched his classmates' bicker.

***

Despite his initial desire, it had become a sort of routine to go visit his father afterschool to make dinner, before heading back to Itona's. Just so that he knew his father was eating properly and not wasting away like a pathetic mess.

Gakushuu stretched as he plopped the groceries on the kitchen counter. "I'm making dinner!" he called, rolling up his sleeves as he started to prepare something. "If you don't want it, then say so now so I don't waste my time!"

The house remained silent for a while, which wasn't unusual since his father normally just came in and left once he'd eaten.

"...What are you making?" His father crept into the kitchen.

Gakushuu shrugged, smoothing some creases out of his blue apron. "Country style miso and tofu," he replied, preparing the sardines.

His father apprehensively walked over. "...Do you need any help?"

Gakushuu frowned, glancing up; his father never really offered before. "Well you might as well make yourself useful," he commented, pushing the green onions towards him on the counter. "You can chop the onions."

"Of course." His father rolled up his sleeves and then grabbed a knife. "When does Itona expect you back today?"

"Eight," Gakushuu replied, turning on the heat on the hob. "We're going to watch a movie."

"Oh...that's nice." His father worked in silence as they prepared the ingredients. "...Mr Karasuma recommended a few counsellors for me to reach out to."

Gakushuu frowned slightly. "...You're going to therapy?"

"I thought it would be good," his father replied stiffly, focusing on dicing the onions. "I think it would help..." There was a pause. "Perhaps we could both go?"

He regarded his father warily. "I'm not sure that would end well." His brow furrowed more. "Unless you want social services involved."

His father grimaced faintly. "Well, it's something to think about..." Then he hesitantly touched Gakushuu's shoulder, causing him to freeze. "Then, perhaps, after you might consider coming home permanently...when you're ready?"

Gakushuu sighed, looking away uncomfortably. "...I'll consider it." He knew he couldn't rely on Itona forever and he didn't like being indebted to the boy even if they were friends. "I just need some more time to think about it..."

"...Of course." His father patted him gently on the head. "I understand." He smiled at him awkwardly. "I appreciate it." He gave him another head pat. "I'm thankful I have such a good and kind son."

"...Right." Gakushuu cringed a little. "Thanks, dad..."

"Yes..." His father's smile wavered, gaze lingering on him a while longer, like he wanted to say more. "Good." He stopped patting his head and went back to chopping the onions.

Gakushuu sighed, shaking his head faintly.

He knew his father was just trying but it didn't make it less awkward.

Thankfully, his father seemed to get the message and focused on helping him cook.

***

"Asano!" Kurahashi said happily when he came to visit their classroom during lunch.

Gakushuu sighed in exasperation. "All you had to do was put on a simple play!"

His former classmates grinned like devils.

"Aw, didn't you like it!?" Hazama cackled. "It was my best work."

Gakushuu eye twitched. "Do you know how many strings I needed to pull to get the council to agree to let you perform!"

"Sorry!" Isogai looked apologetic. "We were just trying to put on something memorable."

Gakushuu crossed his arms. "By making everyone lose their appetites?"

"Yep!" Nakamura said happily. "It was some of our best—"

A large crash coming from outside jolted them as the campus shook.

"Oh, shit!" Okajima clung to his desk. "Is that your dad again?"

"Not that I'm aware," Gakushuu looked confused.

"Let's check outside!" Hara yelled.

"Yeah, Nagisa and Kayano were cleaning up the supply shed!" Sugino said as they all hurried outside.

Gakushuu frowned. "The supply shed?"

When they all went outside Koro-sensei came smashing to the ground, looking out of breath like he'd just escaped death.

Isogai went to help Nagisa up as the boy groaned from pain and look like he'd been flung across. 

_What was going on?!_

The class walked toward him. "Koro-sensei, are you alright?" Nagisa asked urgently.

"What in the world? What just happened?" Isogai asked.

Kayano shot through the roof of the storage building. When she came back down, she stood on the roof, her tentacles surrounding her. Her hair was down. As she looked at her classmates, her face showed no emotion.

Gakushuu choked. "Are those tentacles?!"

_Why the hell did Kayano have tentacles?!!_

"Are those what I think?" Kanzaki asked.

"Since when does Kayano have tentacles?!" Kataoka exclaimed.

_What was happening? Why was this happening?!_

Kayano closed her eyes and smiled. "Aw, damn it. And I attacked you with everything I had. You're slippier than I thought, clearly." She sighed. "The plan was solid. Asano's trial run even helped speed things along."

Gakushuu's eyes widened. "Trial run..." His thoughts flashed to the cut wire and the sabotaged plan. "Wait..."

Koro-sensei rose from the ground. "Kaede... What is the meaning of this?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Kayano laughed. "FYI, my real name's not Kaede. I'm Aguri Yukimura's little sister."

Gakushuu couldn't stop gawking, even after Kayano/Yukimura jumped away on the tentacles like something from a movie.

_Why did she have tentacles? How long had she had tentacles?!_

_WHY DID THIS CLASS KEEP THROWING CURB BALLS AT HIM EVEN THOUGH HE'D LEFT?! THE LEVELS OF INSANITY WERE ASTOUNDING—_

"Hey, Asano, you in?" Karma spoke, breaking him out of his internal raging as they were all gathered in the classroom after the revelation.

"Huh?" Gakushuu looked over.

"You in to go face Kayano with Koro-sensei?" Karma repeated while the rest of them looked over. 

He frowned, reminding himself that he'd only just got out of this mess and he should quit while he was ahead and...

Their looks grew hopeful.

He sighed in exasperation. "...I'm suing your families if I die."

They smiled at him, warm and friendly.

He hated this class. 


	8. Sequel is now posted

### A/N: Sequel is now up!

* * *

###    
TITLE: Getting Pulled Over and Bundled into the Trunk

###    
Summary:

> After the brief stint in 3-E and then the return to 3-A (since Seo couldn't be left alone for two minutes without getting his hands stuck in a jam jar, and Class A was more co-dependent than Koro-sensei was to junk food and adult magazines) he was ready for life to go back to some semblance of normality.
> 
> ...And then Kayano turned out to be Yukimura-sensei's sister and a famous actress, with connections to a mad scientist who was also a cyborg, and...at this point he'd seen less complicated family connections in a soap opera.
> 
> *Sequel to Getting Dragged Along For the Ride.
> 
> * * *


End file.
